


Stand Up, Don't Be Shy

by rvziel



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Drama AU, Gen, Highschool AU, Theater AU, it was a good idea, they smoke weed at ch 10 lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-01
Updated: 2015-04-09
Packaged: 2017-12-22 01:51:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 25,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/907477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rvziel/pseuds/rvziel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Theater is serious business. They're bound to be a bit dramatic, especially when it comes to bets. (SNK Highschool/Theater AU.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings

Theater is difficult.

As much as the sports department loves to tease the theater department because, well, "That's just not useful." "What do they even do?" "All the guys there are obviously gay." "They think they're better than everyone!"

Everyone in Theater knew, very, very, well, that it was difficult. They knew they weren't stuck up. And oh boy, did the term difficult happen to be an understatement.

Especially when hell week rolls around.

Levi was crouched next to the mannequin, pins holding in place pieces of loose fabric, and extras being held between his teeth. He was adding the last minute details to Blind Mag's dress. He'll never know how Erwin convinced the staff to let them do Repo!, and he'll never understand why Blind Mag's dress during Chromaggia was so damn detailed.

Mikasa painted the last bit of the sky on the drop, smiling when she set the paint brush down. Set making was tedious, and boy did this one give her hell. The girls stood up to start carrying the paint bucket away from the stage and back to the art room, since they'd been so nice as to let them borrow the paints.

Erwin stood, watching everyone and directing who would be doing who, scolding Connie for goofing off behind the curtains by dancing. Connie gave a whining 'Mommy!' before Erwin cut him off and go made him help Petra practice her lines for Blind Mag.

Eren checked over the microphones once more, making sure they were all in perfect condition. For some reason, without fail, every year a mic would suddenly not work anymore. So far there hadn't been any problems, and the boy was ecstatic. Armin stood, pointing where people needed to place the glow tape. "God, no, Reiner! I mean to the stage left, not your left!" He yells out, rubbing his eyes.

Levi stood up, narrowly avoiding Bertholdt carrying a ladder, and set the pins down on his desk. He glances in the mirror, and noticed he looked exhausted. The night wasn't even half over, they were probably staying until midnight. Huffing, he slipped into the costume closet, pulling out Graverobber's coat. He needed one more layer under it, and was gonna have Erwin try it on again for a once over. He knew Erwin could hit low notes, but damn, the first time they went over 21st Century Cure, everyone had been floored.

"Levi! Can you help me with mic tests?" Eren yelled out, when Levi exited the closet with the extra fabric. The Junior looked at his classmate, glaring.

"Can I have a moment to put the coat on the mannequin and set my fabric down, Eren?" He shouted, trying to stand over the moving props Reiner was carrying now. "We have five days until opening night, I need to finish three costumes still!" He muttered, throwing the coat on the statue and straightening it out. Eren rolled his eyes, strolling over and handing the headset to the shorter man. Levi put it on with one hand, attempting to pin fabrics with the other.

Eren had chuckled a little when Levi put it on completely wrong, crouching down and fixing it for him. Levi's ears went warm, and he knew he was blushing. No break, apparently, from an overwhelming crush. Not even during the shittiest week before performance.

"Alright, I'll hand over the rest of the sets to the others who can multi task. You're mic four, so when I call for you to answer, just call out testing!" Eren said, patting his shoulder and pacing to Mikasa to ask of the same.

'Wonderful,' he though. 'I'm almost out of thread, I should check if the sewing club has more…' That would have to be later, since he had to wait for the mic test. Giving a millionth sigh for the third hour, he stood up and decided he might as well do a makeup test.

"Yo, Hanji, come here. I'm gonna test Pavi's makeup really quick," He called out to the assistant stage manager, and she gladly skipped over. Sitting down in the chair, she waited patiently for Levi to get the fake face ready. "So, Costume Captain, your face is red."

"Shut up or I'll make sure you're never playing Pavi again," He glared, adding the 'hooks' to the face and adding touch-ups. "But Levi! It's so adorable!"

"I'm sweating, I am covered in glitter, and dammit Hanji Zoe shut up and let me apply your scars," He says, grabbing the necessities and dabbing them on her face. She huffed and let him work, giving small complaints when 'you're rubbing to hard."

After a good twenty minutes of still working on the scars, Levi began to hum. It was subconscious by now, everyone was doing it. They'd heard the songs from the musical so much it just stuck. At one point during the Spring production during Sophomore year, everyone had gotten so tired of 'Defying Gravity' because Ymir and Christa would just burst out singing it when it wasn't necessary.

Levi had begun with Come Up and Try My New Parts since he enjoyed that song the most. Not for the content of the lyrics, he actually just enjoyed the sound of it. They cut it from this production, since both parties would have felt uncomfortable with that scene. Hanji snickered when she heard "I want a hit of Z, and we're not talkin' for free…" and Levi shot a glare.

Applying the face after letting the scarred latex dry, he was already midway through the song when he heard snickers coming from the rest of the crew, and he was confused. Hanji coughed a little and whispered, "Pst, Captain, your mic is on."

Levi shot up, mortified, and took the headset off before rushing to find Eren. God dammit, Eren, at least be louder if you're calling for mic tests! When he'd entered the control booth, Armin and Eren had been cracking up and Armin hiding his face with wheezing laughter.

"Eren fucking Jaeger," Levi growled, slamming the door. Armin shot up, horrified, and made way out the second door in a haste, yelling behind him, "I have to go fix a bulb really quick!"

Eren leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, cracking a smile. "I think maybe they should've casted you as Amber instead of Ymir!" He boasts, proudly. Levi slams his hand down on the arm rests of Eren's chair, leaning in closely.

"Do not joke with me about this. I've got more shit on you than you can imagine. I mean, I could tell Erwin that we can do Grease next semester, and I can always have you get casted as Sandy, since you seem to know all her parts by heart." He growled out, inching towards the teen's face. "Hell, I've got no shame in the fact I've memorized Amber's lines. But maybe we can even do Legally Blonde, would you prefer that?" Levi was dangerously close now, and Eren was maintaining eye contact.

"Hey, you promised you wouldn't tell anyone about that," Eren points out, visibly more frustrated.

"Then don't try to embarrass me when I'm simply enjoying the music from the performance we happen to be in."

"We were having fun, Levi. No one was teasing you. Get that stick from your ass, Captain fashion," Eren smirks, regaining ground in this argument.

"Alright, fine. Let's make a deal," Levi begins, sitting in Eren's lap and noticing the boy's face growing red. "Until the end of this production, I will personally be the friendliest as possible. I won't go off on anyone, I'll be calm about fixing costumes and make up, and I won't ride your ass for turning on the microphones without my notice."

"And?"

"You have to be my dummy for makeup tests. I need to test how I want the scars for certain faces, you'll be the first for it. You also have to come out with me to buy more makeup and sewing items with me whenever I need, since I prefer more than one person's input. If you protest even once, you lose."

"What happens if one of us loses?" Eren inquired, ignoring the man on his lap.

"If I lose, we'll do Legally Blonde next production. If you lose, we'll do Hairspray," Levi only had say in this because he knew that the department would have no problem doing either. Eren held out his hand and Levi took it, giving a firm shake. "Deal," Eren replied, shoving Levi off his lap. "If you don't mind now, I have to go fix one of the mics."

Levi rolled his eyes and Eren turned to grab a headset, and left the booth, walking down to head backstage once again, he sat next to Hanji, with the unfinished Pavi mask.

"Well, Costume Captain?"

"Hell week is about to become much more entertaining," He remarked, picking up the lipstick.


	2. All I Care About

**Days until opening night: 5**

                Levi leaned against the wall with the cigarette in his mouth, staring at the sky. He’d managed to smuggle a pack from his parents and get it past the school, _and_ find an area without cameras or teachers. Not that it matters, they stop paying attention to the cameras after school and after sports practices.

                He had zoned out completely, thinking of everything he should be doing and wasn’t doing at the moment. Pulling it from his mouth, he flicked it a bit to get rid of the excess ash. Sighing and watching the smoke swirl out, he shut his eyes. To put it simply, he was stressed the fuck out.

                Levi didn’t notice the footsteps that were growing louder, but never really bothered to put the cancer stick out. By now it’d only be someone from the football team or in theater, and if it was the first, he could just force them to keep their mouths shut.

                “Can you spare a smoke?” He heard. Opening his eyes he was greeted with teal ones, looking right down at the sitting Levi. He reached into his pocket to pull out another stick for Eren and handed it to him. Eren sat next to Levi, fishing in his pocket for a lighter.

                “Shit,” He muttered as he realized he’d forgotten the lighter. Shrugging, Eren leaned over with the cigarette in his mouth and lit the end from Levi’s burning smoke.

                “So, you’re not one to smoke often. Who broke what?” Levi asked, puffing the smoke right in Eren’s face.

                “Most of the microphones went out, and I gave up trying to fix them for now,” Eren replied, sighing and leaning against the wall.

                “Oh? You should probably fix them before opening night. It is next week, after all,” Levi replied, rolling the cigarette between his fingers.

                “Yeah, yeah, you’re not one to talk. Don’t you have to make a make-up run soon?” Eren snapped back with, furrowing his eyebrows. “I mean, it’d be awful if you ran out of eyeliner before _Zydrate Anatomy_.”

                “Hey, you do not know what it’s like to run out of eyeliner. It brings definition to the eyes-“

                “Yes, Mister Beauty Guru. I know,” Eren forced the cigarette back into Levi’s mouth to get him to shut up. Levi coughed a little and took the almost burnt out stress reliever from his mouth. Flicking it to the trash can, and blowing the rest of the smoke out, he stood up. “Get up, Jaeger bomb. You’re coming along with the supplies run.”

                “What? I have to fix the microphones still,” Eren stood with him. Levi took Eren’s cigarette and took one last puff from it and smashed it out, throwing it in the trash.

                “Your beauty guru comment got your ticket to shopping with me. Let’s go.”

+++++

                “Sephora?”

                “Sephora.”

                “…Sephora?”

                “Yes, Jaegermeister, Sephora.”

                Eren stood in the store, out of place and confused. The workers seemed to know Levi well and were directing him around, while Eren was staring at all the concealer placed neatly on the shelf. He’d only been in one make-up store, and that was Maybelline. Plus, it was for Mikasa, and they were on vacation. He’d dragged her to an antique weapons shop beforehand, it was only fair she chose the next location.

                “So, how many shades of black do you need?” Eren jokingly asked, turning to the costumes master standing and observing the eyeliner.

                “Well, it depends. I mean, we can either have an off-black that goes with certain…” Eren zoned out completely, frowning at the sarcasm Levi failed to read.

                “Levi. I was kidding.”

                “Then don’t kid about what I take seriously. I mean, I could always go to the control booth and fuck with the settings. Even better, sneak a headset on to Jean’s head. I’ve heard some odd sounds coming from the props closet as of late,” He smirked, reaching behind Eren and handing him a bottle of concealer. “Also, this should work good with your skin. In case you ever get unfortunate markings.”

                Eren blushed lightly at the last comment and rolled his eyes, observing it and throwing it lightly into the basket. Guess it wouldn’t hurt to have some, after all.

                Levi turned back to face the eyeliner, singing the lyrics to All I Care About under his breath. When Eren had walked next to Levi, observing with him, and heard the song, he couldn’t help but break out in a large grin.

                “ _I don’t care about expensive things_ ,” Eren sang along, crossing his arms and looking down at Levi.

                Levi looked back a little shocked but continued with the song as it goes, swaying his hips a little. “ _Cashmere coats, or diamond rings, don’t mean a thing_ ,” He threw another pencil into the basket, bumping hips with Eren.

                The two teenagers looked back at eachother, smiling, and boasting proudly, “ _All I care about is love!”_

A few women in the store shot looks at them, but Levi just walked the basket over to buy the products. When they walked out of the store back into the mall, Eren continued with the song.

                “ _I don't care for wearin' silk cravats_ _, Ruby studs, satin spats,_ ” He sang, grabbing Levi’s hand and pulling him close. Levi stuttered a bit, feigning any blush that may have appeared, but continued along anyways.

                “ _Don’t mean a thing—_ “

                “ _All I care about is love!_ ” They harmonized again, Eren spinning with Levi.

                Levi moved with Eren rhythmically and continued along with the song throughout the mall, getting odd looks from people all around. When they were near the entrance, Levi was brought close to Eren again and they held out their arms, singing “ _All I care about is love!_ ” for the last time.

                When Eren realized how close Levi was to him, he let go reluctantly and gave a small cough. Levi returned to his impassive expression, and pulled out his phone to glance at the time.

                “We should head back to the school now. Practice will last late tonight, and we’re gonna make a Whataburger run on the way back for the rest of them,” Levi said, putting his phone in his pocket.

                “Yeah, sounds fine,” Eren replied, smiling.

+++++

                Taking the last of the orders back into the auditorium, Levi dropped the package into Hanji’s lap. She glanced up and gave her usual toothy-grin, taking a fry out and eating it.

                “So, how was shopping?” She asked, rolling her chair over to Levi. Over on the other side of the stage, Armin was telling Eren to eat slower so he wouldn’t choke. Levi unwrapped the burger and looked at Hanji, clicking his tongue.

                “It was shopping.”

                “Oh, then the video that someone on color guard sent me was just shopping? Looks like you guys were really into that shopping,” Hanji replied, mouth full with the chicken she’d ordered.

                “Video?” Levi spun around to face Hanji, taking the phone she’d pulled out. Playing the video and seeing the two of them dancing past the Forever 21 and Bath and Body Works  looking like they’d had the time of their lives, he could feel  the anger rising.

                “Video! You two are adorable! You harmonized just as well as Annie and I did for _Hot Honey Rag_ ,” She said, putting the phone back in her pocket. “It was just _swell_.”

                Levi stared at her in disbelief, standing up with the bag of food. He couldn’t lose his cool, couldn’t go off on anyone. He was about to say something, but decided against it, walking out the side exit.

                “I’m going for a smoke!” He yells back behind him, slamming the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omfg IM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING. i got busy and lazy, but here you go! i love chicago almost as much as Repo! and once i imagined levi and eren dancing around to all i care about i shrieked and said "THAT WILL BE CHAPTER TWO." i know it looks like this sin't going anywhere but it is i promise haha. reviews are welcomed!


	3. What Is This Feeling?

**Days until opening night: 4**

                 Petra stared at the temperamental boy who was trying his absolute best not to punch the freshman in the face. She’d heard a loud scream come from the closed doors of the control booth as soon as the freshmen had broken the microphone they’d finally gotten to work after three hours, and that’s around the point where Jean had said “There goes the Jaeger bomb.”

                Mikasa was holding Eren back without having to put forth much effort, but she was obviously growing more tired of the thrashing and loud swears coming from her adoptive brother. Armin stood from the back with Ymir and Christa, grimacing when Eren’s voice cracked to accompany the screaming.

                Erwin stood between the two students, holding Eren’s shoulders and calmly explaining “We can either fix it or go buy a new one, it’s no problem,” as reassurance. This did not help, as Eren screamed out “We wouldn’t have to fix or buy it if he hadn’t broken it!”

                Hanji stood next to Levi, laughing as Mikasa slowly stepped back as Eren started thrashing more and more, and Levi just flat out ignored the entire situation since he was too busy making swatches.

                “Well, Eren, just be glad they didn’t wipe out your sound library,” Reiner commented, sitting on a stool watching the situation. As fate would have it for a poor, unfortunate soul, another freshman had walked up in that moment. Nervously, he walked over to the group, and told Eren, “Uh, the sound library had been wiped when I was searching on your computer…”

                “You _fucking **what**_?!” Eren screamed, breaking from Mikasa’s grip entirely and marching over to the freshman. Stopping right in front of him, taking a deep breath in, and exhaling, he waved his hand.

                “You’re banished to sorting screws.”

                “I-I’m sorry, what? I’m on props!”

                “Jean?” Eren turned to the boy who was next to Marco and organizing the props table. Jean glanced at the freshman and shrugged, nodding, “Banned to sorting.”

                “U-Um…Eren, sir, what about me?” The other freshman had asked, backing away slowly. Eren glanced at him, glaring.

                “Where are you now?”

                “Uh, set,” They replied.

                “Banned to props,” He replied, flicking his wrist and walking past the upset boy.

                Mikasa snickered a bit when the freshman looked to her for reassurance, but all she replied with was, “No one mourns the wicked.”

                Eren walked out the back door exit, motioning for Levi to come along with a pack of smokes. Levi shook his head in response, pointing to the swatches he was fixing up for organizational reasons. Eren clicked his tongue and exaggeratedly waved his arms to show Levi that they seriously needed to go outside, and Levi begrudgingly set down his eye shadow and threw on his lettermen, following Eren outside the auditorium.

                Making their way down to the ‘Smoking area’ and scaring any of the art students away from their spots, Levi took out his cigarettes and handed one to Eren and took one for himself. Eren grabbed the lighter from Levi’s pocket and let the joint up, leaning over to light Levi’s as well.

                “Let’s change the bet up,” Eren says, blowing the smoke out and tapping his foot.

                “Only if you get me my next pack of cigarettes,” Levi replied, blowing the smoke out in rings.

                “Fine,” Eren stated simply, leaning a shoulder against the wall. “I wanna change the rules.”

                “Oh hoh? What should my end be now?”

                “You have to take in five freshmen and not scare them off. Five freshmen from anybody in any of the crews,” Eren stated, flicking the ashes from the end of the stick and taking it into his mouth.

                Levi gaped a bit, trying to search for words. They’re four days from opening night, and he doesn’t quite know how they’ll grasp quick changes or be able to assist in that short amount of time. Although, he could just have them go on supply runs instead…fuck, fine, Eren.

                “Alright, I’ll bite,” He stated, inhaling once again. “That means you get yours changed, too,” Exhaling the smoke and shoving his hands in the pocket of the lettermen, Levi continued. “We also change the prize.”

                “Okay, shoot,” Eren dared.

                “You can have my old end of the bet. You can’t get pissy at anyone, you have to control your temper. If I win, you and me can go watch a movie and you can pay. If you win, I’ll pay,” He said, holding the joint between his thumb and index finger now.

                “Sounds agreeable, I overheard Erwin saying he was going to try to make Legally Blonde our last production anyways,” Eren said, smoldering the cigarette out. Levi followed these actions, and held out his hand for an agreement shake. Eren smirked at this motion, and spit in his own hand and was about the grab Levi’s before the shorter male had snapped his hand away.

                “Wash your hands before you touch anything in the auditorium, Jaegershnitzel,” Levi said, walking with him to go open the door and head back inside.

+++++

                Levi hated the situations he managed to crawl with his (rather nice) ass into.

                Five freshmen girls stood before him, nervous and twiddling their thumbs. Levi observed them, thinking of what he could possibly make them do to make it seem like they’re actively participating. Pulling open a drawer of unsorted colors of various eye shadows, lipsticks, eyeliners, and more, he looked back at them.

                “Which of you understands how to make swatches?”

                One girl raised her hand, smiling a little. “I usually do it for fun at home, so…” She trailed off, shifting her stance a little bit. Levi observed her, walking closer and critiquing her make up in his head.

                “Alright, you can swatch these for me,” He said, letting her over to the drawer. She sighed with relief, and he turned to the other four.

                “You four can run off and get more fabric for me. Jo Ann’s is close by, as you should know,” He pointed at the door. “I need more black fabric. I need white, silver, and black thread. I also would like if one of you picked up a Venti cookie crumble from Starbucks, if you would be so kind,” Levi fished for his wallet and pulled out a wad of money. “This should be enough to cover it. If not, call me.”

                The girls nodded and quickly scrambled from him, running out to go get a ride from one of the sophomores who usually were their D.D.

                Levi looked more content and walked to sit on a stool next to Hanji, who smiled as he sat next to her.

                “You look more relaxed!” She commented, setting down her clip board.

                “Eren changed the bet rules, and things turned out in my favor,” He propped his his feet on the bar of the stool and crossed his arms. “I had to put five freshmen on costume and make up, so I have one doing swatches and the others out getting me coffee and fabric.”

                “So what changed for Eren?”

                “He has my old end of the stick, since I figured out he’s way more temperamental when we get closer to Opening Night,” He observed Jean arguing with Connie over where the props were placed last, since _‘They’re not on the table or in the props room! What the **fuck,** Connie?’_

                “Oh? Did anything else change?”

                Smirking, Levi raised his eyebrows, “Loser pays for the two of us to go see a movie.”

                “…Levi, did you trick him into going on a date?” She laughed, lightly punching his arm. “Nice job, so either way you basically won!”

                “Essentially, that’s what I aimed for,” He said, brushing off the spot she’d hit. From the corner of his eye, Levi spotted Petra coming back from the University nearby. Sighing, to climbed on to the stage and gave a smile.

                “Mike wanted me to go pick something up from him, sorry for leaving!” She said. Mike was Petra’s older brother by about two years, and was in theater for a year of high school, before deciding he would much rather not deal with that ever again.

                “Did you at least tell him we all said hi?” Hanji inquired, handing over Petra’s script.

                “Yes, he said hello. He also says he’ll be here to watch us again, so he expects a good performance!” She smiled, taking the script. “I’ll go practice with Reiner now, thanks for holding my script,” Petra gave a wave and sauntered off to go find Reiner.

                Eren sat next to Armin in the control room, waiting impatiently for all his sounds to import. He was lucky that they were backed up on an external drive, or that kid would have been banished from the holy ground. Well, at least that’s what he called the control booth, there’s only a few people allowed inside.

                Armin noticed the frustration that seemed to radiate from his childhood friend, and put a hand on Eren’s shoulder. Smiling, he reassured Eren, “You’ll be fine, Eren. We had a few people run off and get some more mics from Fry’s. “

                “Yeah, I know,” He huffed. “I’m just more worried about losing the bet. We changed the terms, and I can’t lose my temper. Loser pays for a movie.”

                Armin stared at Eren before snickering, then giggling, then full blown laughing like he knew something Eren had failed to pick up. That wasn’t unusual. Eren was oblivious to things sometimes.

                “…What? What is it, Armin?” He asked, frowning.

                “You seriously—“ He had to stop for a moment to laugh again, “—don’t _get it_?”

                “It’s the movies, Levi and I have gone together plenty of times before, Armin. It’s not like that.”

                “Oh, yes, whatever you say, Eren,” Armin replied, turning his chair back to his control panel.

                “God you’re weird- Oh what the actual flying hell?” Eren clicked on the error message, sighing in annoyance.

+++++

                It was a bit past midnight when they’d finished rehearsals and made their way to a late night iHop run, pushing tables together so they’d all be in a group. Normal conversations passed by about tests and essays due, how much they’re going to regret the lack of sleep in the morning, and typical high school conversations.

                Levi say with Erwin and Hanji on his right and left sides respectively, picking away at the pancakes he’d decided to order. Hanji chatted away about how good the production was going, and how everyone was doing so well.

                Eren sat with Mikasa and Armin, going on about how his sounds didn’t import for two hours before he finally fixed the problem. Levi observed them, listening in to the ranting Eren. Scratch that fake ass lie, he was just paying a bit more attention to Eren than anyone else was, and was finding it oddly charming about how passionate he was about his duty.

                When they’d all paid the bill, Levi was walking out to his car when he heard familiar footsteps catch up with him.

                “Hey, Costume Captain,” Eren called out, placing a hand on Levi’s shoulder and looking down at him. “About the bet…”

                “Are you seriously changing it again?” Levi asked, fixing his jacket.

                “No, no, I just wanted to ask something,” Eren shook his head, facing Levi.

                “Well, what is it Jaeger 70?”

               “Stop with the Jaeger nicknames, it’s been eight years. Uh, the movie is just us going as friends, correct?” He asked, a bit wary of the other man before him.

                Levi chuckled a bit, and rolled his eyes. Reaching up to Eren’s ear, he simply whispered, “It only is if you’d like it that way.”

                Eren drove with Mikasa and Armin in silence, that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....not much to say about this one, except it's longer. also, i sat for a half hour figuring out how to put a Wicked reference. so yeah, reviews are welcomed!  <3 also, you can track the shingeki no theater tag on tumblr for my process and stuff!


	4. I Can't Do It Alone

                Eren has a certain definition of beautiful.

                He knows his mother’s beautiful, just in the way she managed to take care of him and Mikasa. In the way that she accepted Mikasa into their home when Eren was still only young, and how she’s raised her into his family. Carla cared for her family, and Eren knew that she is beautiful.

                He knows Mikasa is beautiful, she has the boys (and girls) flocking to her natural beauty. Really, though, Mikasa was strong. She could stand for herself, and she looked after Eren and Armin. Eren loves his sister a lot, and he was proud of the fact Mikasa can hold her own, even in the darkest hours.

                He knows Armin was beautiful. He’s admired the intelligence Armin has shown and how much he’s grown since they were little kids, and how he knows what to do in situations where everyone may be in panic. Yes, Armin is beautiful, in his own way like Mikasa and Carla.

                Then, he was sitting in the bleachers with the rest of the juniors in theater.

                Not only doing theater but also orchestra, they all knew how to play some instrument. Majority had started when their sixth grade year rolled around, but some of the others had been playing long before that. During lunch they’d all go sit out if the weather deemed it nice enough not to morph their instruments, and just practice.

                When he was tuning his viola, he’d heard the high notes of the solo for _Rondo Capriccioso_. He figured it was just Levi, having a bit of fun for once instead of practicing their stuff for the UIL competition that was far off. They usually practiced that a lot anyways, what’s a little bit of fun? When Levi had sped up, Eren finally turned around to watch like everyone else.

                That’s when Eren noticed.

                The sun hit Levi in a certain way to where it gave just enough light to help notice his better features, like the gray shade of his eyes. The way he moved with the music in time, and never faltering when he had to speed up. The way he seemed to completely focus on the violin at hand, and zone out from everyone completely. His fingers graced over the strings, playing every note without anything but confidence.

                Levi swayed with the music as he played; bow running along the strings in such an artistic way that Eren was almost jealous he couldn’t play like that. Eren was passionate with his viola, but Levi grew up playing his violin. Even when Eren heard it the first time when they were all about seven, he hadn’t noticed the unique way Levi seemed to play.

                _Yes_ , Eren concludes.

                _Levi is beautiful._

                He would never admit that, though.

+++++

                **Days until opening night: 3**

Levi had offered to sit behind stage with a microphone and play the violin rendition of Chromaggia to accompany Blind Mag’s performance. Every time they ran through with the performance, Levi had his violin ready and the sheet music before him, standing and playing out of sight.

                He stopped caring for the fact everyone seemed to always stay completely and utterly silent when the song was performed, since he was so used to it. He’s been playing practically his entire life, he was already used to the constant stares he’d get when he actually played with true emotion.

                Hanji was most used to Levi’s violin, being his best friend and staying at his house on late nights only to be greeted with melodic tunes, like Canon in D major or Skaters Waltz. However, this never stopped her from being floored by how beautiful it sounded.

                Eren sat back in the control booth, eyes shut and just relaxing to the music that filled the entire auditorium. Armin had left Ymir with the controls so he could relax, if only for a minute. Three days from opening night and everything was almost perfect. They’d managed to run through everything smoothly for the first time, now all they have to do is minor touch ups.

                “ _I would rather be blind_.”

                Levi kept still during the final moment, and when they’d called for a break, he went to go set the instrument back in the case. Narrowly moving pass everyone, Levi reached the orchestra room and walked over to his locker. Opening it, he also heard the door swing open.

                “You know Sonata in D minor, right?” Eren called out, walking over to the area where he kept his viola.

                “Oh course, I learned it freshman year,” Levi replied.

                “Let’s play,” Eren said, picking up his viola and tuning it.

                Levi paused for a moment, glancing at him. He knew Eren had an appreciation for that particular piece, but Levi never exactly recalled playing it for anyone but Hanji.

                “Well, I suppose we have enough time…” Levi commented, putting the shoulder rest back in his violin. One duet wouldn’t hurt.

                Pulling out the binder where Eren kept his sheet music, neatly labeled “Sheet Music Hell” he flipped quickly the music. He pulled out a stand to set the binder on, and readied himself.

                Levi pulled out his music as well, having been ready about a minute longer than Eren. When he figured Eren was ready, he played the first note.

                And Eren didn’t expect this at all.

                Levi moved with just as much grace as he had earlier, a beautiful sound coming from the strings. Everyone always commented about how beautiful Levi’s violin has always sounded, even whenever he replaced the strings. Levi usually just gave a “Thank you,” in response, not really moved by the comment anymore. When the song sped up and Levi was shifting, Eren carefully played his part while trying not to lose his spot and completely fuck up.

                It sounded so angelic, the notes filling the air and completely engulfing the two into a state of peace and contentment. When they reached about halfway through the song, Levi had faded to a stop. Eren looked at him confused, pulling away from his viola.

                “Why the sudden stop?” He asked, worried. Did they get off time…?

                “I think—I think we should head back to the others,” Levi stated quietly, placing his violin back in her case and putting the bow away as well, snapping the case down and placing it in his locker.

                “You’ve been weird lately,” Eren said, placing his viola away as well and stepping over to Levi. “What’s up?”

                “You’re paranoid,” Levi commented, trying to step around Eren so he could leave the room and go collect himself. Eren grabbed Levi’s shoulders and forced him back front and center, gripping tightly.

                “I’m not paranoid. You’ve been weird since iHop last night,”Eren leaned downwards to mimic what Levi had done the night before.

                “Doing this whole _whisper thing_ in my ear, like you know something I don’t,” He spoke into his ear, and Levi was trying his absolute hardest not to turn so red.

                “I was drunk.”

                “You don’t drink,” Eren leaned back again to make eye contact with him.

                “It was funny. I’m allowed to have fun once in a while, Jaegermeister,” Levi stated simply, trying to pull away.

                “No, this isn’t the time for those _stupid_ Jaeger names! What is up with you as of late, Captain? You’re pretending you know something that has completely flown over my head!” He shouted.

                “Temper,” Levi commented, crossing his arms.

                “To hell with the bet right now. _Why?_ ”

                Eren had become completely unaware of the close radius they were in, and how close his face happened to be to Levi’s. Levi’s eyes flickered to Eren’s lips, taking in the fact he could lean over right now. Just a few centimeters from being able to taste the nicotine that probably lingers from the last smoke break they had.

                Before Levi could process the choice he was making, his hand snaked up to the nape of Eren’s neck to bring him closer and push their lips together, and what really freaked Levi out is that Eren pressed back a bit needing, enjoying this far too much. Levi bit at Eren’s bottom lip, eliciting a small grunt from the taller boy. Eren kissed back once again, taking in the taste of coffee and cigarettes lingering on him.

                Levi broke the kiss off first, wide eyed and confused. He pulled away from Eren, wiping the corners of his lips off and giving a small cough.

                “I’m going back to speak to Mikasa about something,” Levi said, walking past Eren. Eren simply nodded and followed, heading back to the control booth. Closing the door behind him, Armin snapped his head up to greet Eren.

                “Hey, Eren. Where were you?” Armin asked, taking his headset off. Eren took his seat and shrugged.

                “Orchestra room. I was doing something.”

                “Doing something?” He chuckled, tapping his fingers. “Or someone?”

                Eren’s face turned beet read at that comment, and he frowned. “No! Why would I ever?”

                “It was a joke, Eren!” Armin said, now more curious, “Unless, I’m right?”

                “…Levi kissed me,” Eren said, turning away.

                “Wait, what? Are you kidding?” Armin was a bit taken back, and mentally noted to tell Hanji so they can put out the money later.

                “It was…an accident. It doesn’t mean much,” Eren shrugged, “Experimentation.”

                “Well. Alright, that’s fine,” The blonde replied, turning back to his controls. Eren’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out, unlocking it and glancing at the text.

_‘By the way, you lost.’_

                Eren’s scream could be heard from back stage, and Levi smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: i. i have no idea. this doesn't. i didn't mean. i'm still shocked, what. i have no idea what i wrote, take it and go. you can still follow my progress in the shingeki no theater tag on tumblr, my tumblr (gaymakeout) and my girlfriend's tumblr. (lord twink.
> 
> songs used: /watch?v=nM_QvaormR8  
> /watch?v=esldkznHovU


	5. After Midnight

                 ** _Three weeks earlier_**

                The radio in Levi’s room played a little low, and Hanji was humming along _to Get Lucky_ while pressing various buttons on the Playstation controller.  It was almost four a.m. on a Friday, and they all decided to just crash at Levi’s house after a long day. Levi and Hanji stayed awake talking and playing video games while the others were strewn around two rooms, sleeping and not waking up anytime soon.

                “Hey, Levi,” Hanji began, pressing the buttons to get a combo.

                “Shit, what?” He muttered, narrowly dodging the attack.

                “How long has it been?” She asked, backing him into a corner and repeatedly pressing various buttons.

                “I’m not telling you,” He replied simply, jumping over to get out of the way. “That’s nothing of your concern.”

                “Levi, we’ve been friends since we were in diapers! Come on!” She pleaded, hitting him with a combo, giving a win to her. Levi cursed under his breath and began the next round.

                “Uh…we’re in junior year, now. I was about thirteen…so since seventh grade? Four years?” Levi sighed, opening the round with a string of moves, knocking Hanji’s character down.

                “You didn’t tell me until freshman year. Has it seriously been that long? You’ve never bothered giving up?” Hanji paused the game to look at him, a sad look gracing her eyes.

                “Never found a reason to. He may never come around, and if he doesn’t, then I’ll probably still be in too deep to leave,” He stated simply, setting the controller down and flexing his fingers. The radio’s music slowly faded to _Judas_ and Hanji was bobbing her head to the beat.

                “You’re dedicated. I just don’t wanna see you get hurt, Levi. Eren may not come around ever, as much as you wish. It sucks, but it’s just a fact,” She replied, frowning.

                Levi stopped flexing his fingers and looked her, disappointed. “You think I don’t know this? He hasn’t in four years, he probably never will. I’m fine with that. If he’s happy, I’m happy.”

                Hanji stared at Levi for a few moments, then picked her controller back up. “You really do love him, huh.”

                Eren lied next to Armin and Mikasa, eyes half open and listening to the conversation and radio that softly filled the room. He didn’t fall back asleep, that night.

+++++

                **Days until opening night: 2**

                Eren spun in the swivel chair, having the control room to himself. Armin and Ymir were on dinner duty tonight, so they’d left about five minutes ago. He finally had time to collect his own thoughts without being bugged much, and boy did he have a lot to think about.

                So, Levi loves him. Then he kissed him. On top of that, he has a movie night with him that Armin has implied has dirtier intentions.

_How the fuck, Eren._

                He ran his hands through his hair, groaning loudly. The plan to avoid Levi at all costs today was actually working well, since Levi seemed to be doing the same. No one has bothered asking, and he wasn’t even sure if anyone noticed it at all. If Levi came anywhere near him, he’d suddenly have an excuse to be in a completely different area. Even during lunch they hadn’t spoken, just avoiding any interaction.

                Eren stood up and rummaged in his backpack for a pack of cigarettes. “Shit,” He muttered, realizing he owed Levi a new pack and was probably going to be caught sneaking out to go smoke. It was worth the risk, though. He quietly left the control booth and exited from the back entrance, quickling walking out to the smoking area and sighing. He lit a cigarette and brought it to his mouth, inhaling the toxins and shutting his eyes to enjoy the feeling.

                _What a disgusting habit_ , he thought.

                Eren didn’t even smoke often, just when his stress levels were awful and he had no other way of relieving that. He knew it was messing with his lungs, and it was gonna catch up with him. He never cared, though. It was a stress reliever and he turned eighteen next year anyways, there’s no point in caring. Exhaling the smoke and sliding down to the cement, his head hit the brick wall and he groaned again. Eren wasn’t sure what he felt for Levi, they’d been friends since maybe kindergarten. Eren found out he was pansexual around eighth grade, but never bothered to tell anyone. Besides, it’s not like that mattered much. They could find out if he ever decided to get a boyfriend. When that thought crossed his mind, so did the memory of kissing Levi and tasting the smoke on his lips. His cheeks flushed and he quickly threw his cigarette down in annoyance, stomping it out.

                “This is shit,” Eren said to no one in particular.

                “You mean the fact you wasted a good three quarters of that smoke?” A female voice called to Eren. His head snapped over to see Annie, standing there with her hands on her hips.

                “Erwin’s been calling for you for five minutes, Eren. You should tell us when you’re gonna sneak out,” She said, sitting down next to him.

                “I needed to be alone for a few minutes,” Eren stated simply, hands on his knees.

                Annie looked at him, raising an eyebrow and scoffing. Eren was a shit liar, and had been for the time she’s known him.

                “You’re an awful liar, Eren. You can’t run from your problems,” Annie stated, taking the smoke pack from him and slipping it into her pocket. “You don’t need these, and neither does Levi. They’re awful for you.”

                “You don’t dictate my health Annie, I paid for those!” He yelled, grabbing them from him and putting them in his back pocket. “They calm me down and it’s better than beating the ever loving shit out of people.”

                “They’re poisonous, and so are keeping your problems in. I can get Mikasa or Levi if you need,” She replied, pushing her bangs from her face.

                “Don’t get Levi,” Eren said too quickly, then retracting away when she rolled her eyes.

                “So it’s about shorty, alright. Listen here, you can’t avoid him. We’ve all noticed that you two have yet to speak to each other all day, and by now at least one argument would have happened and you two would be smoking together.”

                Eren kept his head down when Annie spoke, and finally he stood up. “I’m going inside,” He said simply, walking away. Annie followed about a minute later, satisfied with the little amount of motivation she had to give Eren.

                Erwin noticed the teen come inside, and he made a ‘come hither’ motion with his hand to him. Eren sighed, ready for the motherly lecture that was about to be bestowed on him. He stepped over to Erwin and looked up, making eye contact.

                “You shouldn’t be smoking this much,” He commented, clicking his pen.

                “Well you see, mommy, I wanted to avoid punching someone,” he said, sighing.

                “Eren, we’ve been calling for you for a few minutes now. Some of us were nervous, so please don’t do it again. Also, since Mikasa was about to throw a fit, she wants you to sort screws,” Erwin continued, done clicking the pen. Eren groaned and looked at his sister, who had the buckets ready and was pointing to them.

                Trudging to the screws, he picked up the bucket and went to go sit somewhere quiet where no one would bother him. Yes, this was acceptable, he guessed. He sighed and plopped down, ready to take action.

                “Hey, let me help,” a figure appeared behind him.

                “You have makeup to do—“ Eren began, but was cut off.

                “The freshmen can handle it for once, let me help, and talk to you,” Levi said, sitting across from him. “We need to talk, anyways.”

                “There’s nothing to talk about,” He replied simply, picking up and observing a screw.

                “Jaeger, there’s everything to talk about. For example, you’ve been avoiding me,” Levi began, taking a few buckets for himself.

                “I haven’t been avoiding you,” He replied simply, shrugging. “We just haven’t spoken.”

                “Bull shit, I’d approach you and you’d disappear in two seconds flat. Is this about yesterday?” Levi snapped, looking straight at him.

                “Why would yesterday matter? It didn’t mean anything; we both just wanted a bit of contact,”  Eren replied, gripping each screw a bit tighter.

                “Oh, so that’s why you’ve been awkward. You thought I thought the kiss meant something more,” Levi snapped, bitterly. “Well, I can’t deny it was a nice kiss and I wouldn’t mind doing it again. You, however, probably aren’t lying that you’re just ‘ _desperate for contact_.’”

                “I haven’t had a girlfriend since the beginning of Sophomore year, so yeah, I’d say I am,” He snapped back, looking straight at Levi.

                “Uh-huh, so if I just repeated yesterday right now you’d probably kiss back?”

                “That’s not what I fucking meant, Levi. Not at all,” Eren snapped. “ _What_ —What the fuck _is this_?” He gestured to the two of them. “You jokingly flirt with me, but sometimes it doesn’t feel like that! Like, am I supposed to suddenly reciprocate those feelings you have for me? Is that what that kiss was for? Is that what all of this is for?” He yelled, standing up and drawing the attention of the other crew members. Levi sat and kept eye contact with Eren the entire time, not budging.

                Eren panted, trying his hardest to to yell more. He would regret everything he said, but it doesn’t matter. He wanted answers, and dammit he was gonna get some. Levi finally stood up, about to answer Eren, but shut his mouth. He stepped back a few steps and turned around, briskly walking away.

                Ymir simply walked past Eren, handing him a box from Thai Cottage. He could distantly hear a “Now you fucked up,” come from her, but he just stared at the box. He heard a door slam, probably Levi locking himself in the costume loft, and the theater was actually completely silent for once.

                _Yeah,_ Eren concluded, _no shit._

+++++

                Levi and Hanji drove in silence that night.

                It was raining, and the radio was turned up to the song _Sweater Weather_. Levi sang along quietly, voice breaking at some points. Hanji honestly didn’t have the heart to talk to him about the outburst earlier. She did however, have the heart to take out the cravat from the glove department and wipe off the tears that sometimes trailed down Levi’s face.

                She didn’t see him like this except for one other time, and she felt awful.

                “I’m sorry,” she muttered, looking straight at the road.

                “It’s not your fault, Zoe,” he answered, turning the radio down a little. “It’s not even his, I was the one who kissed him yesterday.”

                “That was a bit uncalled for, though,” she answered, clutching the cravat. “I’m sure it’s the stress of Tech week, though. Everything’ll be fine, tomorrow!” She tried to respond, in a more cheery manner. Levi shrugged, and clutched the steering wheel tighter.

                “Do you wanna drive down to parking lot where six-flags used to be?” Levi asked. The Six Flags had been torn down back around 2005, and Levi usually went there now to relax and observe the little amount of stars you could observe.

                “Yeah, that’ll be fine.”

                So they drove. They drove in silence, accompanied by the radio and the hum of the engine. Sometimes they’d sing together, but the drive was mostly silent. When the two pulled up in the parking lot, Levi stepped out and climbed to the roof of the car. He didn’t bother pulling out his cigarettes, and Hanji didn’t want to grab them for him.

                Hanji sat next to her old friend, and looked at the sky. It was cold that night, and the moon was nice and bright. She smiled a little when she noticed Levi relaxing a bit and finally calming down.

                “Everything will be okay, Levi,” she said quietly, rubbing his back.

+++++

                Mikasa didn’t bother to pry at Eren and instead left him alone in his room. Eren sat at his laptop, scrolling through various websites and barely touching any homework he had. No one but Armin and Christa were online, and he didn’t want to bug either of them. Exiting Skype, he sighed and shut the laptop.

               He walked over to his bed and turned off the lamp, crawling into bed. He felt guilty about everything he said earlier, and didn’t know what to do. In fact, he wasn’t sure if Levi even wanted to speak to him after today. He groaned and rolled over, curling up more in his sheets. He got on his phone and pulled up a book his was reading, returning back to reading _The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy_ and slowly drifting to sleep.

               When his fun buzzed he jumped a little and pulled down the menu to read the text he’d gotten. It was about 2 a.m. and he hadn’t realized it, having crawled to his bed at around midnight.

                _‘Meet me in the part in ten minutes.’_ It read, from Levi. His eyes widened a bit, but he sat up, replying to the text.

                _‘Fine.’_ He wrote back, hitting send.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm trying to make up for the almost two weeks I didn't update, so here's chapter five! this was a bitch to write, and ended up kind of long. my back hurts. i need to pee too. thanks for the reviews and favorites, it means a lot to me! you can track my progress on tumblr @ gaymakeout, and even talk to me because im lonely. thank you so much!


	6. I Move On

Levi sat on the slide shivering a little. He forgot his coat back at the school, and couldn’t go back to reclaim it. The weather was a little colder than most days this winter, a brisk 37 degrees. _Damn,_ he thought, _Houston needs to stop being so damn cold, it’s supposed to be a warm winter._ He blew breath into his hands, and rubbed his arms. Eren seriously needed to hurry up.

                Eren walked to the park, looking at his phone occasionally. Levi was probably going to be pissed he took twenty minutes to go there, even though it’s a ten minute walk. Whe he arrived, he looked up to see Levi shivering on top of the slide.

                “Captain, you’re shivering,” Eren stated, walking up the slide and motioning for him to scoot over so he could sit next to the shivering teen.

                “I’m fine,” you could see Levi’s breath when he spoke.

                “Liar,” Eren shrugged off his jacket, not being affected by the cold much since he has a bit of a higher body temperature than most. He handed his letterman to Levi, and he begrudgingly put the over-sized jacket on. Eren gave a small smile when he relaxed a little more, buttoning up the jacket.

                “So,” Levi began, resting his chin on his hands.

                “I’m late,” Eren finished, shrugging.

                “Yeah, it’s frankly kind of annoying. I’ll ignore it for now, though,” Levi concluded, noticing how the sleeves were a little too long for him. He didn’t care, no point in complaining about warm hands.

                “So why’d you call me over here at two a.m.?” Eren asked, leaning against the slide. “I mean, I guess I can just go into school a little later tomorrow. I only have two tardies for the year,” he added, shrugging.

                “Hm, I would assume it’s because I’m angry with you but Hanji suggest we just talk.”

                “Levi…” Eren began, sighing. “I didn’t mean to blow up like that, honestly. This week has been stressful and I’ve had a lot on my mind, on top of having to deal with the constant problems in theater. The thing between you and me in the orchestra room,” he made a wide motion with his hands, “Was an accident. I didn’t mean for things to go that way, even though you initiated the kiss. I’d rather have different circumstances if we were to ever kiss again, but relationships seriously aren’t my thing right now.”

                Levi kept his hand down for the majority of the apology, keeping himself from walking away. The words kind of stung, but he knew things wouldn’t work out. What he didn’t remember is ever telling Eren anything about his feelings, and looked up at him.

                “I never implied I had a thing for you romantically,” he stated simply.

                “Wait—what?” Eren looked at him a bit shocked, “You...what? Then what was the kiss for?” He asked, trying to make it seem like he never heard the conversation. “Did you just wanna try something?”

                “Sure,” He replied bluntly, shrugging. “Wanted to see how you’d respond, and I liked the response.”

                “Wow,” Eren rolled his eyes. “Nice to know you care.”

                “I wouldn’t mind doing it again,” he stated simply, looking right at Eren.

                Eren stared, and debated actually reading into the sentence too much. Did Levi ask him out? Or did he just wanna make out? Jesus Christ Levi, you’re not easy to read.

                “…One more time, that’s it. We put this behind us and never speak of it again, and never bring it up to the others,” Eren said, making eye contact with him.

                “I’m fine with that.”

                Eren sucked in a breath and leaned over to his friend, a little nervous. Levi rolled his eyes at him, and brought them closer together, lightly brushing his lips to Eren’s. It was sweet at first, just holding on to each other and not doing much else. Eren ended up being the first one to press harder to Levi, earning a pleasant noise from him. Levi grabbed harder at Eren and brought them closer, and tightened his grab. Eren tasted like cherries now, maybe a bit of Dr. Pepper mixed in.

                Eren was the first to run his tongue over Levi’s lips, and he gleefully granted the approval. Levi grabbed at Eren’s hips to tug him into his lap, giving Eren the space needed to wrap his arms around Levi’s shoulders. God, they were _really_ into this, Eren thought when Levi shoved his tongue into his mouth. He wondered if they should probably stop before things got too heated, but decided against it when he bit at Levi’s lip and a soft moan bubbled from him.

                Eren shifted a little, brushing Levi’s crotch by accident and feeling how it was absolutely _not_ soft and oh God they should really, _really_ stop before this goes too far. He broke the kiss and even in the dark, he could see how flustered Levi was becoming. To be honest, it was actually endearing. He was about to lean in for one last kiss before Levi got from his lap and stood up.

                “I’ll be heading home now,” he coughed, pulling the jacket a little lower.

                “Yeah, see you in class tomorrow,” Eren replied, looking away.

+++++

                **Days until opening night: 1**

                Things had been weird all day.

                Levi showed up for second period and went about his day, a little sleep deprived and a tad more irritated. Hanji was the first to notice this, and took it in stride that he probably was with Eren last night. Eren didn’t show up until third period, with a cup of coffee and a valid excuse that Mikasa vouched for. The two were talking, but it was a little more awkward.

                Come time for final rehearsals Eren was locked up in the control booth with Ymir and Armin, Levi was preoccupied with working on the quick changes and final details. They were all pleased with how well this was going to turn out, and no accidents ever happened.

                Come time for when they all decided to have a break, everyone sat on the stage in an awkward silence for the first time in a very long time, and nobody could pinpoint why. Maybe, just maybe, it was the fact Eren and Levi were eyeing one another from across the room.

                “Oh my God, I can’t believe it,” Hanji finally stood up, all eyes on her. “There is some serious eyefucking going on with you two, and if it doesn’t stop I’m going to cry. Please just stop now and wait until Strike, _please_ ,” she begged, groaning. Eren looked mortified when she gestured to him and Levi, but Levi only remained impassive.

                “I’m going for a smoke,” He says, simply leaving them all. When Eren didn’t get up and follow, and Levi was out of the auditorium, all eyes were on him.

                “Jaeger, what happened?” Jean asked, crossing his arms. “Yesterday you two argue over how you have a boner for him, and now today it’s just tension.”

                “I’m with Jean on this one,” Ymir comments, leaning on Christa for support. “You two are seriously making everything much more awkward than it should be.”

                “Nothing happened,” Eren held his ground, rolling his eyes. “We made up and that’s it.”

                “Yes, and that’s obviously why the shorty walked in school today looking comfy in your letterman,” Reiner pointed out, smiling. Eren’s face flushed at that comment, and he shook his head.

                “Levi was cold last night when I met up with him, so I let him borrow my jacket.”

                “Aw, how romantic!” Christa remarked, giggling. “It’s so old school, how typical of you!”

                Eren looked mortified at Christa’s remark, waving his hands. “It’s not like that! He was cold, I had a jacket! That’s what _friends_ do,” he stressed the word friends.

                Over from where Erwin was, Hanji shot up again. “Letterman’s don’t have that meaning like it did in the fifties, but it would be adorable if that was the reason!” She stated, grinning. Eren held his face in his hands, too mortified by his friends. He stood up, walking out and yelling a nice “Screw off!”

                Levi heard angry stomps coming towards him, figuring it was Eren. He prepared a cigarette and lit it, and when Eren was next to him Levi handed the stick to him.

                “They think we’re dating.”

                Levi choked on the smoke he’d decided to inhale, and began laughing. Are they serious? All because he strolled in casually with the jacket on? He admits he liked it, Eren’s scent lingered on and it was rather comfortable. No one questioned him, though, since they all traded letterman’s a bit through the school year.

                “You’re joking.”

                “I told Armin about the first time we kissed, so I guess he told Hanji because of a bet. I guess they think we’re dating because of it,” Eren spat out, blowing smoke in Levi’s face.

                “Hey, I can only do that to you,” he wafted the smoke away. “And besides, let them think what they want. Just get a boyfriend or girlfriend or something to prove them wrong,” he shrugged, taking a drag.

                “We went over this, I don’t want a relationship,” Eren said. “If I get one, anyways, they’ll do the whole thing they usually do and shun them and me,” he got a hold of the reason why they did that now, but to be honest, Eren didn’t care for romance with anyone until graduation.

                “Then I’ll just grab a boyfriend,” Levi joked, smirking.

                “Hell no, you have work to do!” Eren shot back, frowning. Levi only chuckled at this, smothering the cigarette out. “Looks like Jaegerbomb is jealous,” he muttered, walking away.

                Eren couldn’t exactly admit that he wasn’t, but finished the cigarette by himself. He didn’t have a firm grasp on his feelings anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yoooooo sorry for not updating last night, i partied and then wrote a one shot. you can find it on my tumblr at gaymakeout under the tag 'bunny writes'. i hope you liked this chapter!!!!!


	7. Dors Mon Ange

 

                Eren woke up at precisely 5:45 A.M. with a groan. He got maybe three hours of sleep, after getting home late and finishing all his homework and essays he’d completely neglected. His teachers always timed a due date one important days, it’s a conspiracy. He grabbed his black clothes that he’d just decided to wear through the day, since it’s just too much work to change later. With a yawn, he stepped out of his room, giving a quiet “Mornin’” to Mikasa as she passed by him, leaving the bathroom.

                He stripped from his sleeping attire and turned the shower on cold, stepping in and getting a huge shock from it. Mentally going over what he’d have to turn in today before he left class early to prepare for the show, he shampooed his hair rather slowly and feigned off any desire to sleep that may overcome him. When the tired boy was done showering, he stepped out drying himself off and throwing on the clothes.

                Finishing up with brushing his teeth and combing his hair, Eren went downstairs and was greeted with Mikasa making toast and reading any mail they’d picked up last night on their way home.

                “Good morning, my house.”

                “Don’t even start,” she replied, voice still deeper from grogginess. “Your toast and jam are there,” She pointed to the plate that was on the table. Eren took his seat and thanked her, eating in silence. Carla was usually never awake until the two were almost at school, but she always left a note the night before wishing them a good day.

                “We have work to do today,” Mikasa says, taking a sip of the coffee she’d made. Eren nodded in agreement eating the last bit of toast and throwing the paper plate away. Mikasa had just sat down with hers and was eating nonchalantly, reading magazines they’d gotten in the mail.

                When she was done, she threw away the plate and grabbed the car keys from the key ring holder, shaking them in Eren’s general direction. They both grabbed their bags and headed out, ready to begin what would be a very, very long day.

                Over a couple of streets down, Hanji was dragging a tired Levi out of his bed and Levi was groaning. He didn’t want to go to school until fourth period, because after that they can head to theater and get ready for the show tonight. Hanji beckoned Levi out with a mug of coffee and Levi finally got up, downing the mug and heading to go take a shower. She smiled in victory, going down stairs and gathering their stuff. They usually just grabbed protein bars from the vending machines at school, anyways, no sense in wasting time to make breakfast.

                Levi eventually emerged with dripping hair and in a saggy black shirt, dark jeans, and his boots. He threw on the letterman, huffing at the smirk Hanji gave him.

                “Is that Eren’s shirt, too?” She asked. Levi looked down to the shirt with ‘Muse’ written in large letters, a bar over it and a bar underneath. He’d actually forgotten Eren left this at his house, and Levi had yet to give it back.

                “Shut up and let’s go,” He shot, making a mental note to stop at Starbucks to grab more coffee.

               Hanji rolled her eyes and tossed Levi’s lanyard with his car keys and student I.D. (as well as many other keys) to him, surprising him and barely able to grab them.

                “Reflexes, man!” She yells behind her, throwing her messenger bag over her shoulder. Levi rolled his eyes in response and followed her out, locking his door.

                The first two periods was dedicated to Levi barely responding to notes Hanji or Petra tossed him, instead taking the time to stare at the board blankly while the teacher rambled on and on about things he knew but didn’t care for. Levi tapped his pencil frustratingly, barely taking notes on the subject. When the bell finally rang he just grabbed his bag and walked out the class without another word.

               Third period was English with Eren, Armin, and Ymir. They weren’t doing much in the class as of now except reading, and usually the teacher left them to do that on their own. Most students ended up sleeping or sitting on their devices, playing games. When Levi walked in the class, Armin and Eren were sitting and talking about the later events of the day. He took his seat quietly, and Eren looked over, excusing himself from conversation with Armin. Armin nodded, and Eren went to go take a seat next to Levi.

                “Yo, Ravioli,” he greeted, turning his chair to face Levi.

                “No,” Levi replied simply.

               “I wasn’t going to ask a favor, but rather, is that my Muse shirt?” He poked at the shirt, grinning. Levi rolled his eyes, leaning away from Eren’s touch.

                “Yeah, it’s yours. I’m not taking it off right now just so you can have it back,” He aimed, crossing his arms.

                “Then when do I get my letterman back? You have one yourself, y’know,” He clicked his tongue. Levi had actually forgotten he was wearing it, and looked down to see Eren’s name printed on it.

                “You’ll get it back when I remember to. Not today, it’s fourty eight outside.”

                Ymir came and sat down behind Levi, leaning over her desk and smirking. “How cute! The lover’s quarrel, what a sight to see, I should be recording this for Nat Geo.”

                Eren frowned at her, ready to give his comeback, when the bell rang and they were all forced to quiet down. A small snicker from behind Levi could be heard, with him not paying attention and grabbing the book from his back. Just one more period. One more period, and he could go and get ready for tonight and finish the week off. The weekend of course would be dedicated to the performances, Sunday being closing night.

                Levi decided reading was something he could do later, and took out his phone. No reason to be bored, he could probably text Hanji. After all, she usually had French around this time (he never understood why she just didn’t take the language test, but she just says it’s her sleeping period. She usually aced all those tests anyways) so she was probably just spaced out completely. Unlocking his phone, he pulled the message center up only to find a text from Eren.

                _‘If we go to your house right after we’re let from fourth period to get your jacket, can I get mine back?’_ It read. Levi turned his head to the side, finding his friend playing Ruzzle under the desk.

                _‘Are you that desperate for your jacket?’_ He replied, hitting send and opening up Facebook.

                A moment later, his phone lit up with another text. ‘ _Maybe, but I also forgot a jacket today. Can I also get my shirt? I’d like that back as well.’_

                He rolled his eyes, swiping out the letters in a seemingly easy fashion. Thank God for Swype on Androids. _‘Fine, but we have to be quick.’_

+++++

                Eren had Algebra in fourth period, Levi remembered. They all usually memorized each other’s schedules, so naturally Levi left his study hall early and waited next to the algebra room. He had it first period, but made a mental note to help Eren after Strike on Sunday. When the overhead buzz rang, signaling the end of class, he stood up and waited for Eren to appear from the class. Levi made him text Erwin that they’d be leaving to pick up a few batteries and some coffee for everyone, and they got the okay.

                When he saw messy brown hair emerge from the math class and Eren parting his way from Christa, he rolled his eyes and motioned for Levi to go ahead. Leaving from the front office with their excuse, (They knew it would work, front office trusted these kids enough.) the taller of the two finally spoke.

                “Don’t forget the coffee.”

                “Inform me as to why I’d forget the coffee, Jaeger. Enlighten me as to why that’s something I would forget,” Levi shot, unlocking the car and propping himself in the driver’s seat. He shoved the key into the ignition, the car roaring to life and the radio louder than what Eren expected.

                _“I can play the guitar like a motherfucking riot—“_ The speakers hummed, Eren turning it up. “This song’s great. I didn’t know you listened to this station?”

                “It’s got good enough music,” Levi hummed, pulling out from the parking lot.

                The drive was short, only about five minutes. The song played casually, Eren singing along with _“Lovin’, is what I got,”_ and Levi casually singing back with _“I said remember that.”_

                When they drove up into the driveway, Levi turned the car off and walked to the front of the house with his friend following closely behind. Eren rather enjoyed his house, it was spacious and could hold everyone during parties. He followed Levi to his room, taking note of how neat everything was and _Is that a GD poster on his closet’s door._

                “Levi.”

                “Hm?” He pulled out his own letterman, shaking Eren’s off and tossing it to him.

                “Is that a K-Pop star on your door?”

                “His name is G-Dragon and you can’t even question my tastes. You actually like MGMT.”

                “Hey they have good music,” Eren shot back, crossing his arms. Levi crossed the room to his dresser, rummaging for another black shirt. When he found one, he tossed it to the bed and threw Eren’s _Muse_ shirt off.

                Eren actually couldn’t help but notice how toned Levi was, he knew that him and Hanji often went to work out together but _god damn that six-pack was glorious_. Wait. Extremely dumb thoughts stop now, before it gets weird.

                Obviously that was no use, because the next sentence that slipped from his mouth was, “Nice abs.” He mentally slapped himself for not having a filter.

                “You’d have some too if you did more than run,” Levi replied, throwing the long sleeved shirt on. It was a little small for him, but whatever. It just meant when he’d stretch Eren would probably be looking at him and that was something that didn’t bother Levi whatsoever.

                “When I’m not feeling great though, I can literally run from my problems,” He tossed out, grinning. Levi actually paused putting his jacket on to stare at Eren.

                “That’s an awful pun.”

                “You make shit jokes; you can’t even tell me what bad humor is.”

                Levi grabbed his lanyard, and walked out the room dragging Eren and turning all the lights off. The dragged teen only snickered when he knew that this battle was won.

                “Wait, wait, can I throw on my Muse shirt really quick?”

                “Are you that fucking desperate to wear it? Fine, just toss your other shirt in my back seat when we’re in the car,” Levi stopped dragging him, stepping away a few inches. Eren pulled the shirt over his head, noting the fact shorty was a few inches from him.

                “Hurry up, we have to order a shit ton of coffee,” He coughed a little, glancing at his phone clock.

                “Wow okay, fine. I’m going to take extra time now.” Eren set the other shirt down, picking up the band tee and taking a deep sniff. _Wow, it smells like Levi. What cologne does he use? Probably some obscure one._ He pulled the shirt away, cheeks with a hint of red. Nice going Eren, you just inhaled a shirt Levi wore.

                “I swear to ever loving God, if you do not put that shirt on I am taking that and your jacket and you can just walk around in public with no shirt.” He actually didn’t mind that idea.

                “Fine!” Eren tugged his shirt on, leaving Levi a little disappointed. He grabbed the jacket and walked out the house, Levi pacing behind.

+++++

                Levi handed Hanji the coffee, and she took it with a warm ‘Thank you.’ To which Levi replied with a nod and followed her to the makeup area.

                “So, I see Eren got his shirt back.”

                “Mhm, we had to go back to my house.”

                “Did you do the thing?” She sipped the coffee, acting innocent.

                “If you’re referring to me shoving my dick up his ass or vice versa, then you’ll be disappointed with my answer: no.”

                “Wow okay, okay!” She pulled the coffee away, realizing it was still really hot.

                “He did inhale it though, it was incredibly stupid. He actually blushed when he realized it smells like my cologne,” Levi picked the key to the costume loft, unlocking it and letting Hanji follow him inside. “I think he actually breathed deeper all during the car ride. It prides me to know my cologne has that effect on people,” he mused, smirking.

                “Oh Levi, you wish. I use the same cologne as you, it does not attract a potential mate.”

                “You’re just not paying attention,” He grabbed the dress that was needed, walking out the loft and locking it. Hanji chuckled and rolled her eyes, looking at Erwin yelling at Connie and Sasha to stop playing on the cat walk.

                “You must not be either,” When she looked over at Eren, who held the caramel coffee in his hands with a wider smile than usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SORRY I JUST HAD A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH THIS CHAPTER??? ugh. idk. so yeah, performance next chapter! i'll just do their opening night for the chapter, and chapter 9 should be them striking. it won't end there though!! i mean they still have that whole not-gay-not-date movie night together and you can bet it's going to be incredibly gay.


	8. Chromaggia

                 **Opening Night**

                Eren threw the coffee cups out in the trash, sighing and preparing himself for circle. He could get through this, lock himself in the control room, and not come out for a good near two hours. It’s okay. It’s really okay.

                It’s not okay.

                He couldn’t get the smell of the shirt out at all, or his jacket. Eren couldn’t stop taking in the scent, and he was sure Armin noticed. It sounded as though he was sick because he was just trying to smell the articles of clothing. _That’s so creepy_ , he thought.

                “Eren. Eren. Eren,” Armin finally clapped in Eren’s face to grab his attention, rolling his eyes. His head snapped to the blonde in front of him, holding the door open.

                “It’s time for circle,” He pointed out, motioning for him to leave the room.

                “Yeah, yeah, alright,” Eren shrugged and slid off the blue jacket, placing it on the back of his chair. Get through circle, ignore everything unless you’re acknowledged, and leave. If he wanted to escape a situation he damn well could. He ambled almost to the circle, until Ymir pushed him to the area because she was tired of his bullshit.

                “Ymir, please don’t push me,” Eren tripped into the group, watching her walk over to Christa, already in full costume. Right, she was chosen to be Shiloh, and her black wig hung nicely over her shoulders. Levi did a good job with the costumes.

                “Alright, you guys know the drill…” Erwin began, letting everyone take turns. It was the usual thank you to others, the same compliments in a way, and more. Eren politely nodded and smiled when the others thanked him or complimented him, tapping his foot in nervousness. When it came to his turn, he went through the group giving the usual shout out’s.

                “Shout out to Levi…” He hesitated for a moment, before coming up with something. “…For his violin skills and being able to make room to play the song while being busy with costumes.”

                Levi nodded, his signal for thank you.

                When the circle was over, everyone rushed to their appropriate places, grabbing the needed mics and equipment. The show started in thirty minutes, and people were trickling in. The show would have a good audience tonight, and Eren could even see Mike sitting a couple of rows from the stage with Nanaba and a few others.

                Quiet time really was quiet for once, everyone preparing things, Armin staying back in the control booth while Ymir directed others to the cat walk. When they locked the doors and Eren was working on organizing the last of his sounds for extra measure, going back once, twice, three times, he was surprised Amin never asked questions. Usually by now he would have noticed something was off with his mood or something, but he actually just stayed quiet.

                Peculiar.

                He was relieved when the production began, Erwin entering on stage and beginning the set up for a story. He admired the Stage Manager for being able to balance both jobs, Narrator and Stage Manager. Hanji took over in parts when he was on stage, even though she was in the production as well. Honestly, he didn’t know how they did it, he was only cast for once or twice during school productions.

                Levi patiently helped with fixing costumes and make up, taking calls from Hanji until Erwin finally left stage and she was able to get a break. She managed to sneak time in to stroll over and launch a small conversation with Levi, while he stood nervously making sure quick changes were going as planned.

                “Levi, mute your headset for one moment,” Hanji demanded, Levi looking skeptical. He couldn’t just mute himself from the gossip line like that.

                “I’d rather not, but if you say so,” He motioned for the button, shrugging,

                “So, you and Eren. Where are things headed?” She balanced back and forth on her feet, clicking her tongue.

                “Things are going nowhere, Hanji. How many times do I have to explain I gave him the shirt and jacket back with no in between?” The raven haired teen replied, motioning for Reiner to come over so he could make small adjustments to the mask.

                “No, Levi, quiet for one moment. Things have been weird since a few days before tonight, what’s happened? You kiss, argue, make up, and things have been…awkward. I talked to Mike before the show, and he said even when you called him last you were acting weird. That was yesterday, so what is your deal?” There was a tone of annoyance in there, and Levi rolled his eyes, shooing Reiner off. A quick change would be conducted soon, in less than a few minutes, actually. Levi had to be on his game.

                “We’re not having this conversation right now, Hanji. I have to do my job, you have to get ready for your entrance in the next few scenes. Talk to me about it later,” Levi replied, looking at her.

                “Answer me, Levi. You have three minutes.”

                Levi sighed, knowing he’d lose the battle. “It’s been confusing, alright? I keep getting signals from him that says he has romantic feelings, but then there are times where he implies friends too much. It’s annoying, Hanji. It’s so damn annoying how I feel like this, and he waltzes around not having a single care like that for me to give. It’s always friends, it’s always ‘He’s like a brother.’ It’s always the same stupid shit, and I just want to work tonight and not discuss this.”

                She stared. She nodded once, muttering a ‘We’ll talk tonight,’ and walking over to discuss something with Petra. Levi understood he dropped a bomb, but when he went to go unmute the microphone, it turns out he didn’t actually mute it in the first place.

                Levi’s got a nice hold on his anger. He really does, he’s learned not to shout ‘Fuck!’ really loud when you’re backstage and plenty of people could hear. So he did the Most Adult Thing™ he could do, and he breathed in, whispering lowly “I fucked up,” before rushing to just go help with quick changes.

                In the control booth, Eren and Armin sat mortified. He kind of turned to Armin, motioning, wishing question marks would appear out of nowhere. Armin shook his head, flailing not knowing what to do either. They could pretend they didn’t hear that, but with Jean on the gossip line chuckling and just saying “The loudest scream Levi has ever had, done in complete silence,” It would be hard to ignore.

                Okay, so now Eren knew he’d fucked up just as much as he thought he did.

                It was actually hard to go through a performance like this when your mind was swarming with questions, wondering how he was going to avoid all the questions, all the wandering eyes from all the crew members, everything. He only gave out his calls and the thank you’s when needed, voice racked with exhaustion. There was no way he was going to make it through Saturday and Sunday like this, no way whatsoever.

                Times like this, Eren was glad him and Levi worked in completely opposite sides of the theater. He was especially glad nobody could see his face, since he was probably pale and looking a bit sick. There was no way Eren could do this anymore, acting oblivious to Levi’s feelings. He wasn’t even sure of his own feelings anymore, but there’s no rushing in. There was no way Levi could be crushed like that, so it was just easy to ignore everything. Avoid the situation, get through it all, everything will be okay in a week.

                Hell week had a new definition, because this was definitely the worst Hell week. The performance was going to well, but people were actually just giving cues instead of jokes during the performance on the line. It wasn’t even Hell week anymore, but Eren wanted a redo. A complete redo, so he could avoid everything.

                The performance had gone on with no interruption, except for a slip-up here and there, and finally it was time for the Chromaggia number. When the violin echoed in the theater and the audience’s silence and awed expressions spoke more than words, things just clicked in place. Just the way Petra hit the notes with absolute volume and sadness in her voice, everyone was stunned. This was probably planned between a few individuals, but Levi had actually stepped on to stage in black attire, and a masquerade mask to accompany it all. The button-up formal shirt fit nicely, and his slacks were straight, leading down to clean black shoes.

                Eren was stunned.

                He didn’t even have to use the sheet music, he just played. Levi played each and every note with intensity that was so easy to notice, and it was easy to notice the way he held the violin like the instrument was his life. For every note—A sharp, D sharp, everything—the show belonged to the two of them now. All they could do was stare and observe, not realizing when the song was over they had their cues, almost missing them.

                Eren was screwed. Eren was one hundred percent, completely, and utterly screwed, because he knew then. He finally fucking knew, and he couldn’t even say it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp, updates are going to be maybe once a week, since im adjusting to school. opening night isn't over yet, guys! there's still a nice good portion of the ending for repo! i need to write out, since it's basically the saddest thing ever and y'know. i have priorities. if you'll also take a moment to acknowledge my girlfriend at lordtwink on tumblr, you should read her fic and compliment her, she's the reason this au exists. also, i have side stores! simple non-canon one shots (except the tongue piercing one) i have on tumblr in the shingeki no theater tag. read it. big shoutout to nata (5-foot-a-bitch on tumblr) and xpyon, because you two encourage me a lot! also to tightleatherpants, who is a sweetheart. yall are gr8.  
> that's all, lovelies! i hope your day is great!


	9. Salt

 

                Levi finished the violin solo, backing out from everyone’s sight when Petra had “fallen.” He took off the mask and set it down on the costumes desk, observing the face feathers on the left side and the ‘laced’ design that wrapped all around. God, that was uncomfortable. He set the violin in the case gently, as well as the bow, and sighed when he slipped the headset back on.

                “That was tedious,” he sighed, getting ready for the final bits of the production.

                “When the hell was that even planned?” Jean asked, preparing props that would be needed soon.

                “We did it with only a few people’s knowledge, stop making personal conversation on the line,” Erwin stated simply, grabbing the newspaper he’d need in just a little while longer.

                “I didn’t expect Levi to own a masquerade mask,” Armin chuckled from the line, giving cues to those in the catwalk. Ymir had given her instructions to them, but they still needed guidance. Afterall, she did have a part that needed attention.

                “I don’t. The mask actually belongs to Annie, she let me borrow it,” the raven-haired teen replied when he was taking off the black button up in favor of his original shirt. God damn that attire was hot, he couldn’t even fathom the fact Erwin tricked him into doing that.

                “Go Annie. Having masks she’ll never need,” Bertholdt laughed from his line.

                “I don’t know, Annie may end up going to a masquerade ball and dumping you and Reiner in favor of some guy with a cool mask,” Mikasa chimed in, making sure the fake snow was falling precisely as needed while Rotti sang is lines.

                “Oh Mikasa got you, Bertl,” Jean snickered.

                “Nobody asked you, horseface,” Bertl simply replied, a tone of irritation. Levi completely shut them off, ignoring the line completely unless someone called for him. He just let his little crew take over for him though, walking over to return the mask to the loft.

                He unlocked the door and walked in, quietly shutting it and walking over to the masks table. Levi set the mask with a group of other black ones, and stared. He was incredibly exhausted at this point, and there was one or two more quick changes after this scene with the shooting of Nathan and ‘ _Never Knew I Loved You So Much_.’

                Not to mention, trying to avoid Eren. He knew his friend heard everything, considering Jean made a comment about it, and Hanji was going to have to get a ride with Erwin tonight because Levi was taking the hour drive to the beach. Sleep be damned, he wanted to lay there for a few hours next to the sea side. Granted, the water was brown and murky because of the hurricanes that came through the area ever so often, but it was still a beach.

                He remembered he still had to attend to finalizations of make up for Pavi’s second face, so Levi walked from the loft, shut the door and locked it, and finally paid more attention to his duties. The pale hand reached for the blush, and he brushed on the areas of the cheekbones to make them seem higher and sharper in depth. Hanji would be over in two minutes for the new mask, and probably make a note of all the red paint that was left over from every single blood splatter they’d painted on actors and actresses.

                It was a long night.

                So finally, when he heard Erwin’s voice singing the tune for the epilogue, Levi let out a sigh of relief. They have curtain calls, thank you’s and clean up. Then he could leave and turn off his phone and just be done with the day.

                In fact, that’s exactly why he had to hold back from going through the calls too quickly, but he did in fact clean up his entire area, shooing the freshmen off. He helped Mikasa and Jean set things away and prepare for tomorrow evening, and by eleven p.m. Levi was out the doors with his keys and jacket, halfway in his car when Eren’s voice stopped him.

                “I thought Hanji was riding with you tonight.”

                “I’m going to the beach,” Levi replied, opening the car door.

                “I’ve never been to the beach, despite living an hour away,” Eren shrugged, hands in the jacket pockets.

                “Well isn’t it a shame tonight’s not your night? Goodnight, Eren. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Levi went to shut the door when Eren had grabbed the handle and forced the door back open, looking him right in the eyes.

                “I’m coming with you.”

                “Fine, princess. Don’t expect me to speak to you at all tonight.”

                With that, Eren climbed into the car for another time that day, and was greeted with the familiar sounds of the radio. Funny thing is, they were playing a lot of Muse tonight. Levi stayed true to his word, turning the radio up and rolling the windows down a little. When they got closer to the beach, the saltiness of the air was becoming more prominent. Eren rested on his hand, shutting his eyes and letting the melodic notes and soft wind fill the car.

                When the two reached the beach, Eren expected beautiful clear water. Instead, he was greeted with seaweed on the shore and dark water he could barely see, even when they got closer to the shore and Levi set down a blanket to sit on. Eren joined him, taking a cigarette and lighting it after Levi, both staring out at the endless horizon before them.

                Levi played with the thought of sleeping on the beach, but would rather not wake up to the cops and questioning. One time was enough, and he doesn’t want a repeat. He probably shouldn’t be smoking here, but the cops barely patrolled in the winter over here. What seemed like hours and hours was only actually a few minutes, before Eren broke the silence.

                “Levi, I—“ Eren began, before Levi hushed him.

                “Let’s not discuss it. We can ignore this, we don’t have to bring it up ever. If you want, we can ditch the movie idea on Friday,” Levi quietly replied, taking a drag and watching the waves brush against the shore.

                “…I’m not going to drop the movies. I just want to say, everything’ll work out,” Eren was lying to himself, because in all honesty he wasn’t even sure of that reply.

                “Ha. Alright, Eren. How’s your first trip to the beach?” Levi inquired, flicking the ashes from the end of the stick and bringing it to his mouth again. Eren shrugged, copying his motions.

                “Boring, actually. Also, please use the nickname, you not using them happens to be throwing me off,” He chuckled, shuddering with how chilly it’s become. Last time they’d bothered to check the weather it was almost forty-five degrees.

                “Excuse me for not being entertaining, I was coming by myself. You invited yourself here,” Levi stood up, rolling up the cuffs of his jeans. Eren stared and frowned, standing up as well.

                “Levi, it’s freezing out here. That water has to be at least thirty. You’re seriously going to go stand in it?” Levi was ignoring Eren as he strolled to the shoreline, standing in the water bit by bit until he was ankle deep.

                “God, you’re stupid,” Eren clicked his tongue and threw out the cigarette, rolling his jeans to his knees and walking over to Levi. He hadn’t expected the water to be that cold, but he yelped when he came in contact with the iciness. Levi smiled a little, crossing his arms.

                “It’s a full moon tonight,” Levi pointed out, looking upwards. It shone high above them, few stars here and there.

                “My dad always said people act weirder during the full moon. Maybe you’re a werewolf. Maybe we’re all werewolves,” Eren laughed, kicking water at Levi a bit. He shot a look when the water reached his pants, so Levi bent down and splashed Eren, getting his shirt wet.

                “Maybe he’s just doing that as an excuse to make up for the fact you’re a fucking weirdo. I don’t know how you can run four days with absolutely no sleep. I can at least get a nap in somewhere in that time,” The shorter of the two shot back, and eren replied with a splash himself, soaking Levi.

                “Woops,” He smiled.

                “Kid, you’re one hundred percent fucked now.”

                “Levi you’re older than me by a few months.”

                “You’re still a kid,” Levi pushed Eren when he was off guard, effectively causing him to fall in the water with a splash. On his way down, though, he grabbed Levi’s arm and threw him to the side, causing Levi to go down with him. When both had stood up, they were now shoving each other around trying to see who would give up first. When Levi had effectively pinned Eren halfway under water, dunking his head when he tried to fight back, he finally shouted “Fine! You win, Levi!” during fits of laughter and coughing.

                They both stumbled back on to shore, over to the blanket. It was even colder now, so they folded it up, walked to the car, tossed it in the trunk and crawled back into the front seats. Levi started the engine, turning the heat up and seat warmers on, shivering like a maniac.

                “Erwin’s gonna be s-so pissed off if we get sick,” Eren said through clicking teeth, snuggling further into the seat.

                “You think I don’t know? We should head back anyways, it’s getting late,” Levi pointed at the time and Eren frowned.

              “Can I stay at your house tonight? Mikasa’s gonna wake mom up and she’ll be mad I went to the beach at midnight.”

                “You’ll have to sleep in my clothes, but alright,” Levi shrugged, and Eren was oddly okay with that.

                So the drive back was cold, and when they pulled into the driveway, still very damp and shivering, there was an argument on who would shower first. Levi eventually won, stating he could always dump Eren’s ass back home and pointed out Eren didn’t even have his house key on him.

                Eren complied, stripping down and cuddling into a spare blanket Levi had in the linen closet while waiting for the warm shower. He thought about how things were fixed so easily, and it’s all because Levi said to just forget it. That was appreciated, really, and he was willing to comply, but it didn’t seem right. It just didn’t seem right that Eren had a weird pit in his stomach when memories of Levi playing the violin appeared sometimes, and how adorable Levi was acting like a little kid splashing in water.

                It definitely didn’t seem right when Levi walked in, towel around his waist, and throwing pajamas and a towel at him. That was because Eren couldn’t take his eyes off of Levi again, noticing the way his muscles were so defined yet he looked much younger than his real age. Eren snapped out of it though, nodding a “Thank you” and going to shower.

                A small smile graced Levi’s lips though, when he left the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ......i was bored. so, another update. it's late, please ignore my mistakes!! thanks for the comments and stuff because it's greatly appreciated!!  <333


	10. Omigod, Omigod You Guys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yEAH FAIR WARNING THERE'S SMUT? IDK. HAVE FUN.

Levi sat in the orchestra room with the rest of everyone, picking at the two pieces of pizza that had been served to him. The after-party was decided last minute, so Erwin ordered pizza and they all decided to pile in the orchestra room. They'd even keep it clean.

Hanji played the piano for added stress reliever, whilst Reiner and Bertl dissapeared somewhere with Annie. Armin, Eren, and Mikasa all sat in a corner fixing stands that had been broken for a couple of weeks now, making small chatter. Closing night was a rather big success, with no mess ups except for one of Genterns stumbling a little during Night Surgeon. Levi was next to Hanji, Petra, Mike, Nanaba (Mike and them have actually been dating for a few months, much to Levi's surprise) and Erwin.

"Oh man, I remember sitting in here Sophomore year making all these dirty orchestra jokes," Nanaba commented off hand, taking a sip of their drink.

"Oh no, we still do that. A little too much, really," Hanji laughed a little, pausing the piano playing.

"It gets dirty, let me tell you," Eren caled from his corner.

"Throw them at me."

"I'll finger your D string all night," Marco called out.

"I'll rosin my bow just for you tonight!" Eren called.

"I'll show you all the finger patterns for all the major scales," Jean yelled.

"I'll pluck you for nineteen measures straight," Armin laughed.

"My D and your A would sound lovely together," Levi said quietly, getting a clap from Mike.

"I think that one wins, in my opinion. Looks like a victory for Levi," He said, patting his shoulder and earning an eye roll from his shorter friend.

"I'll bet Reiner and Bertl would know. Where did they even go? I saw them dissapear with Annie a while ago," Marco took a bite of his pizza, and Jean groaned.

"I'm not bringing them out," Mikasa stated simply. "Last time I did, there were things I'd rather never see again. Someone else can do that."

"Mikasa, it's why you knock," Eren looked at her, setting a stand back up. "Practice it more."  
Mikasa glared at Eren, frowning, "Maybe you need Levi to do your concealer everytime you go moshing. You look like you had rough sex everytime."

"Are you kidding? Levi doesn't even cover his own hickes," Petra added, crossing her arms.

"Levi hasn't gotten laid since Sophomore year," Hanji was done playing piano at this point, flexing her fingers. "In fact, when he ends up with bruises, it's after every time Eren goes moshing..."

"Don't start, or I swear to God," Levi shot a glare at his friend. She simply smirked and went on.

"It's an observation! It's completely alright if you and Eren are doing the deed, it'd just be nice for you to tell us."

"Actually," Eren coughed awkwardly, standing up. "I force Levi to go moshing with me when I can, and he hates it."

"Oh yes, sure, I bet you two are rocking all night long," Jean laughed, throwing a wadded napkin at Eren, who was trying not to blush.

Levi stood up, miffed and obviously done with everyone and their assuming of his sex life. That's not their business, and it never will be, so there's no point in pondering it.

"I go moshing with Eren because it's fun. I like the music. I get to release all that anger that you guys seem to cause the majority of the time," Levi set the pizza down, grabbing his violin case and his car keys.

"So, you can bang hardcore while banging hardcore," Mike replied, smiling. Levi gripped his violin tighter, motioning for Eren to follow along.

"We're heading out, later assholes," He called out, Eren trailing by after grabbing his viola case.

"Stay safe!" Erwin called behind them.

Levi gave a grunt in response, Eren chuckling a little. They headed out to Levi's car, placing their instruments in the trunk, hopping in the car and relaxing a little.

"Wanna just head to your place and watch a few movies?" Eren asked buckling up. Levi did the same, and fixed the mirror.

"I may be in need of that," He replied with a sigh, backing out.

* * *

A smoke filled the room, a putrid smell to accompany it. Weed never really smelled nice anyways, but hopefully the smoke wouldn't linger in the furniture. Levi sat the last of the food down, turning on the movie Cabin In the Woods. It was going to do for now, and Eren hadn't objected. In fact, he'd curcled up on the couch with a bag of Lays.

"Are you eating those in hopes of getting laid?" Levi asked, falling down on to the sofa with Eren.

"That was a shit pun," He replied, shoving a chip in his mouth.

"You're shit," Levi threw a chip at Eren, receiving a chuckle. They both commented on the movie a lot, and when the blonde had to 'seduce' the wolf and begin to makeout with it, Eren rolled his eyes.

"That's disgusting."

"A dog's mouth is cleaner than a human's," Levi replied, taking an oreo from the pack Eren had opened and smothered Nutella all over.

"Implying you'd makeout with a dog," Eren laughed. His friend merely shrugged, popping the Oreo into his mouth.

"I'd makeout with you," Levi replied, mouth full.

"I'm not a dog!" Eren spat out, frowning and furrowing his brows. Levi thought it was oddly adorable.

"Whatever, you still made the first move. Not my problem," Levi knew this was going to go too far if he wasn't careful.

"You're the one who popped a boner the second time around, on a children's playground. Maybe I would've helpe-"

"You broke it off first," Levi stood up, stretching. "Besides, you're probably shit when it comes to that situation."

"I dunno, gimmie a shot and we'll see," He felt the smile on his back when Levi turned to the door. "I'm gonna get more food, I'll be back in a minute."

With that, Levi walked out the room to go downstairs, trailing to the pantry. He honestly tried not to have his mind wander, he really did, but the thought of Eren trying to take control or muttering in low, guttural German like he did when he was angry. The way Eren's hand would trail across his che-

Damn, he was hard.

Levi managed to grab a few more bags of chips and a few of popcorn, rushing back upstairs. He could deal with it, he could finish himself off in the bathroom as quickly as possible and Eren wouldn't suspect a single thing. Kicking the door open, he ran over to the table and set the snacks down, assuring Eren he simply had to go shit and he'd be right back.

The moment he stepped in the bathroom, the door was slammed shut and locked, Levi leaning against the bathroom counter and palming himself. It'll be quick, he though, nothing that'll be too long. He could feel his breaths becoming deeper as he pulled down his gym shorts and briefs, and God damn his mind just wandered.

The imaginary feeling of Eren holding Levi against a wall, grinding against him in want and desire, making noises Levi didn't even think was human. He actually had to bite his lip when he pumped harder, flicking his wrist and groaning.

Levi leaned back a little, opening his mouth and squeezing his eyes shut. He could be done soon, clean up, act like nothing happened. Eren wouldn't suspect a single thing and he could go on without feeling immense guilt over doing this not even thirteen meters away.

He was getting closer too, ready to release and have a few moments of bliss. But, as fate would have it, he heard a knock at the door and made no time to panic, instead yanking his pants up and leaving his erection unattended.

"What, Eren?" He called.

"Are you alright? I've heard a lot of groans coming from here. Got a hot date, is her name your right hand?" Eren sarcastically asked. Alright, that fucking did it.

Levi threw the door opened, face flushed and pissed off. "Yes, actually, is there a problem? Can I attend to my own needs? Will you leave me alone for a few more minutes?"

Eren glanced at Levi, eyes following down to the obvious bulge that had been in his pants. To be honest, Eren had been kinda curious, but had been joking about the right hand thing.

"...I can help," he hesitated.

And boy, did that do it.

Levi shoved Eren against the wall behind him, crushing their lips together and teeth hitting, it was sloppy and messy but Eren was already aroused and holding Levi closer. He would regret this later, but for now he was alright with the pure heaven that was overtaking his body.

"I don't have lube or condoms, so what do you want?" Levi asked between opened mouthed kisses, grinding his knee into Eren's crotch.

"A hand job is fine, Le-vi, Christ," Levi bit down on Eren's neck, sucking hard and emitting a moan. When Levi looked back up to look him in the eyes, it made him even more nervous.

"We don't talk about this, alright? We don't bring it up, after tonight you suppress the memory. Got it?" Levi was still grinding against Eren, breath uneven and warm.

"Yes, fine,  _fick dich_ , Levi," Eren moaned, pulling down Levi's shorts. He probably wouldn't forget. Levi, though, was almost gone by then after Eren switched to German, but he got the gist. Pale hands reached for the buttons of Eren's jeans, fumbling and pulling them down with his boxers.

"Say please," he whispered against Eren's ear, biting on the lobe.

"Don't make me beg, asshole," He reached to the waistband of Levi's shorts and pulled them down, admiring the fact he wore briefs. Calloused hands grabbed his erection, giving a few pumps. Levi moaned out incoherent words, throwing his head back and grinning.

"Alright, fine, whatever, just keep doing whatever you are doing," he replied tightening his grip on Eren's shoulders. From what Eren figured would work, he grabbed both of their cocks, pulling Levi closer to him and rubbing them together. The raven haired teen hadn't expected that conctact, so he released his grip and let him work.

"Jesus Christ, Levi, keep making those noises," Eren thrusted his hips upward a little, closing the gap between their lips and having Levi let out a guttural noise. They were completely lost in eachother, gasps and grunts coming from both and probably scarring anyone who would have walked in.

"Fuck, Eren, please," he whimpered, kissing him again, biting his lower lip enough to make it bleed. Eren choked a little, before releasing himself against his hand and letting Levi finish himself off. When Levi came, he stared back at the brunette who was trying to compose himself and not panic about the aftermath.

Levi walked past Eren, closing the door and stripping the rest of his clothes off. He stepped into the shower, turning it on cold, and leaning against the wall. He could hear Eren step off to go to the room to rinse off and change, and buried his face in his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm at the beach house with some loser. i think she writes story called jaeger rim, idk, but whatever. (kidding she's one of my best friends ok)
> 
> this just turned the fic m lmao im so sorry i hope u don't mind.


	11. Transatlanticism

 

               The next morning, Levi found himself with one arm around his waist and feeling Eren’s face in the crook of his neck. A small groan escaped his mouth as he shifted positions a little, effectively waking Eren up and hearing a small noise of confusing escape from him.

                “Wh- How the hell…” Eren said, untangling himself from Levi. He only wore a shirt and an old pair of pajama pants, while Levi wore his briefs and a rather large shirt over his small frame.

               “I think we crashed after…” Levi sat up, regretting the feeling in his mouth. He stretched his arms outwards, sighing. Both teens exited from the bed, not making eye contact or speaking much. Eren was trying to look for something to say, really, he was, but the images of him and Levi breathless under each other’s touches wouldn’t stop playing.

                “We can’t keep playing this game.”

                Levi whipped around at the sound of Eren’s voice. “There is no game.”

                “Okay, so what are we now? Not boyfriends, that’s for sure,” Eren crossed his arms. A hint of anger showed in Levi’s eyes as he clenched his fists.

                “I said drop it, Eren. It’s a one-time thing,” Those words slipped from his mouth, and he wanted to punch himself.

                “A one-time thing? One-time fucking thing? I just fucked on of my best friends, how could I _possibly drop this?!”_

                “Oh my God, you’re just fucking whining. Stop acted like you haven’t had a casual fuck before, and besides, it was only a hand job!” Levi shouted, turning Eren to face him. This was ridiculous.

                Eren looked angry, biting down and looking Levi in the eyes. Before he could really process his actions, Eren’s hand had already whipped across Levi’s cheek. What seemed like forever, yet was only a few seconds, Levi turns to see Eren’s hand completely flat.

                He just backhanded him.

                Levi’s first instinct was to tackle Eren, so that’s exactly what happened. He launched forward, shoving the taller of the two against the wall and pinning him there. He fought back though, ducking when Levi went in for a punch and elbowing him in the stomach.  He lurched over a bit so Eren ended up punching him in the face, effectively causing a nosebleed. While stunned, he jolted upwards and hit the wall again, hearing a picture frame fall down and shatter. Levi quickly saw this as an opportunity, flipping positions and throwing Eren down on the ground, straddling him and punching him in the eye.

                Levi couldn’t take that shit anymore.

                He wasn’t going to _put up with it_.

                “Fucking, stop Levi! That’s enough! _Enough_!” Eren screamed as he grabbed Levi’s fist, trying to hold it away. He was pretty sure Levi bruised the left eye, and probably busted a lip. He relaxed a little, standing up and letting Eren scramble away.

                “Get the fuck out my house,” Levi was staring at the ground, nose dripping blood.

                “Maybe I fucking will,” he grabbed any of his belongings, walking out of Levi’s room with a pissed off pace. The last thing Levi heard was the door slamming, after his eyes trailed over to see what picture frame had fallen down. He didn’t bother grabbing anything to stop the bleeding; he just looked down and cringed.

                On the ground lay a picture of Levi and Eren, during freshman year. He’d broken his leg, so as a joke Eren would carry him all around school to avoid going up the stairs or having to use elevators. Hanji snapped a picture of the two when Levi was looking down and smiling while Eren held on to him tightly. Both teenagers looked genuinely happy with the situation.

                Levi hadn’t realized it, but blood began to drip down on to the broken glass, as well as tears. He didn’t even realize he was crying. But, he slowly reached for the towl he’d used to dry off from the shower last night, reaching over and holding it to his nose. One cough later, and Levi was down on his knees in a sobbing mess.

                Right next door, Eren walked up to the front porch of Hanji’s house, but she had opened it before he had the chance to knock.

                “Levi’s window is always open, I could hear your screaming,” She leaned against the door frame to reveal Petra and Erwin sitting on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and a few sodas. Her face was stern, it was obvious she was disappointed.

                “I-“ Eren looked down, stepping inside and letting Hanji shut the door. He removed his shoes, and Erwin gave a look at him.

                “You need an ice pack,” He stood up, leaving the room to head over to the kitchen. Eren slowly nodded and went to go sit on the recliner, sinking into it slowly.

                “So, what did you and Levi exactly do?” Petra gave a worried look, raising an eyebrow. Hanji went to put on her shoes to go check on Levi, considering she’d have to be the one consulting him. Eren glanced over, giving a small shrug.

                “Uh, nothing much. I mean, it was enough for both of us to snap and—yeah, it’s just…difficult,” He chuckled bitterly, taking the pack of frozen peas offered by Erwin. Mikasa certainly was not going to be happy when he got home.

                “Well, if you need anything, I’m here for you, and so is Erwin,” She leaned back into the couch turning up the volume on the TV. Eren rested his head back, staring at the ceiling.

                Hanji hoisted herself upwards, scaling the fence and upwards to Levi’s window, effectively crawling in and seeing Levi sitting on the ground with his iPod playing. She closed the window quietly, taking off her shoes and walking over to her friend. He didn’t bother glancing over, he knew by the footsteps and the carefulness it’d be his usually energetic friend.

                “Levi?” She softly said, crouching next to him. He kept staring at the picture, and the white towel he’d used earlier had blood smudges all over it.

                “Levi, let me at least put you on your bed and clean up,” She held on to his shoulders, forcing him to look her in the eye.

                “I’m fine, Hanji,” he muttered, staggering upwards. There’s no sense in wallowing in self-pity.

                “You’re not fine.  It’s ok to be hurt, really. It’s just me,” she crossed her arms, huffing.

                “But that’s the thing. There’s no point in being hurt, because he’ll be over this in a day or two, and we’ll be back to normal. It’s happened once before, it’ll happen again.”

                Hanji stared at Levi, who had blossoming bruises covering his arms and a nose that looked pretty bruised. His lip was busted open, and she couldn’t stand the sight of it. She wouldn’t even get an answer over who started it, either.

                “Then shut up and let’s clean up, and I’ll make you a late lunch,” She picked up the towel, ignoring the blood.

+++++

                Eren had dozed off, then snapped back awake to Hanji entering from her front door. She looked a little annoyed, but overall a bit fed up with the entire ordeal. Erwin took that as cue to drag Petra off to the kitchen, saying they’d make more snacks and figure out what other movies they could watch. When they left, Hanji sat right in front of Eren.

                “Who started it?”

                Oh God. _Oh God_ , Eren thought. The events replayed in his mind, and he sucked in a breath. Eren had physically hurt Levi, and didn’t even give a second thought to it.

                “I did.”

                “Why the—“ She rolled her eyes, clicking her tongue. “You have learned the only people who are able to match Levi when it comes to fighting know not to trifle with him. Why the _hell_ would you do that? You’ve never been physical before!”

                Eren felt as though a lecture from his mother would be better right now, and he turned away. Hanji growled a little, throwing her hands up.

                “Are you that willing to let everything go? Do you just not see a thing? Seriously, if you hadn’t stopped him, we’d probably need to take you to the ER for a broken arm. How do you even snap that nerve?!” She yelled, making erratic gestures.

                “Well excuse me for finding things awkward after I gave him a hand job last night!” He snapped back, clenching his fists.

                “I—what? You did?” She just looked confused now. Was that seriously all this was about?

                “He said it was a one-time thing. Just to drop it, but honestly, I would if I could. That’s not something you can just drop.”

                She blinked, once, twice, then stood up. “So you…”

                “I back handed him. I was angry because he was avoiding the subject.”

                “Oh my God, Eren,” she muttered, rolling her eyes. “Just, you can stay here for the day, but call Mikasa and check in with her and Carla. I have extra clothes for you somewhere, so please just go shower and change. You smell like weed.”

                Eren nodded, complying and standing up. His head rushed, and he groaned. Levi could really pack a punch, because Eren had a throbbing headache. He’d take some Advil when his shower was over.

                Hanji stepped over into the kitchen, finding Erwin and Petra just standing there making popcorn. They gave a questioning glance as she sighed and began to pin her hair back up in its usual style.

                “Well?” Petra asked.

                “Those two really need to learn how to handle themselves without being aggressive.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaah im sorry if this chapter feels rushed, it was a bitch to write. however, i recommend you listen to transatlanticism by death cab for cutie while reading it. i listened to the song while making this chap, it fits the mood in a sense.


	12. You're Vulnerable

“So what you’re telling me,” Mikasa said over the phone, “Is that Eren and shorty did the deed, had a BF, and then Eren’s sitting in your recliner with a black eye and busted lip?”

“Essentially,” Hanji sighed, stirring pasta while Petra chopped the vegetables.

                “I swear,” The girl huffed over the line, tapping her fingers. “Those two are going to make us all have grey hair before we’re even eighteen.”

                “I say the same!” Hanji exclaimed, waving her spoon. “Now, what are we gonna do? Levi’s sitting in his house with his sad music playlist playing, and I doubt he’s done much else besides clean and watch movies. Eren’s just been on and off sleeping on the recliner, trying to ignore the fact that Levi’s windows are open and mine are too, so you can clearly hear the music.”

                Mikasa eyed at her car keys, then back at Armin who was sprawled on the couch reading _Anthem_. She figured she could just drive over there and have a talk with the two, but both were so stubborn and probably wouldn’t even listen to her. On one hand though, Carla would end up worried if Eren came back with a black eye and busted lip, but they all had school tomorrow and she would end up worried if he wasn’t home all week. God, these two are such idiots.

                “How sad is the music?”

                “Death Cab for Cutie, RHCP, and I think I heard The Killers,” Hanji turned the stove off, carrying the pot to the strainer.

                “Which song from The Killers?” Mikasa grabbed the keys, sighing.

                “Sam’s Town, Abbey Road version.”

                “Fuck, I’ll be there in five. Make sure Eren doesn’t try to hide before he gets the lecture,” Mikasa gave a frustrated sigh, clicking the hang up button on the phone. Armin gave a side glance back to her, raising an eyebrow in question. He was probably asking if he’d have to go along as well.

                “You can come, Hanji’s serving pasta tonight,” The raven haired girl reached for the book, shutting it for him. Armin quickly stood up and followed her out the door, leaving a note explaining they went to go see Hanji.

                Hanji finished adding the veggies and cheese, dishing out a bowl. She carried it over to Eren, who sat leaned back on the chair, ice pack next to him and eye more swollen. His lip was done bleeding, but seemed sore and swollen as well. He reached for the bowl, muttering “Thank you,” before stirring it around and holding the fork to him mouth to blow on it.

                Hanji sat next to him, glancing between the door and Eren, before sighing and walking over to shut a few of the windows. She drew the line when Radiohead could be heard from his room, because that deserved a stern no. She heard Eren set the fork down in the bowl, and turned to him with a questioning look. The food couldn’t be that bad, Erwin usually ate it with no problem.

                “I’m mad over a hand job.”

                “I know, you both are ridiculous as hell,” She scoffed and rolled her eyes, hearing Mikasa pull up on the street. Hanji unlocked the door, waiting for Mikasa to burst in and drag Eren by the ear to the spare bedroom where most stern talks were given by the theater kids. Armin looked a little to them, following until the pair was out of sight. He looked back at Hanji, and then walked over to the kitchen to make a bowl for himself.

                Mikasa slammed the door shut and threw Eren to the bed, glaring. Her lips were pursed in a tight line, and Eren rubbed his ear, wincing a little.

                “First of all, how dare you,” He began, and she gave an exasperated groan of annoyance.

                “Okay, not today. To begin, on the list of ‘Things Eren Has Fucked Up,’ this may even make the top ten. Number one being the time you actually tried to fight the football team by yourself, resulting in Levi and I having to come save your ass.”

                “Well excuse me, Mikasa,” Eren flopped back on to the bad, sighing. “You don’t need to get into my problems.”

                “I hate when you say that, I’m not getting in your problems,” Mikasa walked over to sit next to her brother, bringing his head into her lap and stroking the messy brown hair. Eren sighed at this, shifting his eyes and frowning.

                “I’m only looking out for you because you’d do the same for me, don’t even deny it,” She continued, face softening a bit more.

                “I know you are, but…” He couldn’t really argue, honestly if it was Mikasa in this situation he’d have gone and punched someone’s face in by now. That’s what sisters are for, he guessed, because no matter what they’re going to protect you as much as you would protect them.

                “But what, Eren?”

                “It’s nothing,” He sat up, winching a little. The position on the recliner he’d been in earlier was not very good for his back. Mikasa helped him up a little, both now standing up and leaving the room. Hanji raised an eyebrow, sitting on the couch next to Armin and eating a bowl of pasta with him. Mikasa shrugged, walking over to the kitchen, and Eren grabbed the bowl he’d left earlier when Mikasa dragged him out.

                The six teenagers all sat quietly in the living room, not speaking. Tension was a little high, and no one wanted to say something wrong. Hanji eventually stood up, going into the kitchen to fic one more bowl, wrapping it in plastic and stepping out once again.

                “I’m going to give him food, because I bet he’s yet to make food for himself since I left,” She kicked her shoes on, giving a final eye roll before sauntering out the house. The walk next door was quick, and she just decided to take the front door instead of climbing.

                Trying to open the door, only to find it locked, Hanji clicked her tongue and felt for the spare key above the door. Feeling the cold piece of metal, she smirked to herself and unlocked the door, promptly being greeted with Chelsea Grin reverberating throughout the house. A light chuckle escaped from her as she jogged upstairs, walking into Levi’s bedroom. He was busy replacing the picture from the frame that had been broken earlier, muttering as he did so.

                “Here I thought you went moshing because Eren asked.”

                “I said I genuinely liked the music, didn’t I?” He was straightening the picture, and placing the back gently on to the new frame.

                “Well yeah, you did. I brought you some pasta, there wasn’t much left because Armin goes batshit crazy over my pasta. It’s just cheese and veggies, I don’t get what the big deal is,” She shrugged. Levi set the picture down and took the bowl, unwrapping it and taking the fork that was offered along with it. He quickly dug in, enjoying the taste of the meal Hanji had created.

                “You manage to put the right cheese and veggies?” He asks, swallowing the food. “Whatever, thanks. Now why else are you here?”

                “You blasted Radiohead earlier, I took it as a call of help,” She pulled up a chair, and picked up one of the books Levi had set on his dresser.

                “That’s just from the iPod. Not everything I do is a plea for help, I’m very capable of taking care of myself,” He scoffed, continuing to eat and avoiding making a mess. Soggy food was gross, no way he’d touch it.

                Hanji rolled her eyes at her friend’s obvious lie, because she could clearly see the picture frame next to him that was being fixed earlier. He wasn’t going to show how he actually was hurt a bit, but obviously the black eye he’d received earlier could prove that. Cocking her head to the side a bit while flipping through the pages of the book, she adjusted her glasses and began speaking again.

                “So how are you going to handle this?”

                “Easy, I wait until Eren’s asleep, I sneak into his room, and I blast Rihanna right in his ear until he apologizes,” Levi shrugged. Hanji laughed a little, rolling her eyes.

                “Whatever you say, Ravioli.”

 

* * *

 

 

                Tuesday proved to be difficult when they all returned to school, especially because a few rumors were already beginning to circulate about the injuries Levi and Eren had received. A few claimed that it was high time they got over that sexual tension, but others claimed they got into a gang fight. Both sides were ridiculous to Levi, because it was obvious the two were avoiding each other at all costs. The theater kids kept quiet though, refusing to disclose any information. That, and anytime someone who didn’t need to know decided to ask, Mikasa just shot a look that warned them to not bother. The sports department actually teased them, saying that it was high time the group started to disband a little. Hearing this though, Eren began to yell out curses until Jean and Reiner pulled him away to go calm down.

                Needless to say, Tuesday wasn’t going well for anyone. Especially after school when they all sat in the theater, not speaking, and not really even doing much. Levi sat in the makeup chair, cleaning off brushes and listening to his headphones, ignoring anyone who tried to speak to him. He’d done a piss poor job of covering up the black eye that morning, being tired and just not giving a shit, but Eren hadn’t even bothered. It’s like that concealer he bought for Eren was going to waste.

                Well, of course it would, because as he had that exact thought his hand reached for an unopened container of concealer that matched Eren’s skin perfectly. So he hadn’t even brought it home, no wonder he didn’t conceal it. Levi reached to take out his headphones and turned to a freshman, who looked up in question.

                “Please send the sound master over here,” He said calmly, unwrapping the concealer.

                “As you wish,” She stood up, walking from behind the stage to follow over up to the control booth. She knocked on the door, opening it quietly and was greeted with Eren tuning his viola with an angry face.

                “Eren, Levi would like for you to go see him,” She stated, smiling.

                “Tell him I said I don’t want a smoke,” He replied, trying to tune the C string.

                “I don’t think he’s looking to smoke, he was opening up some concealer when I came to get you,” She didn’t want to get in trouble and be banished to screw sorting today, it was evident in her tone.

                “Fine, I’m only doing this so he doesn’t throw a bitch fit at you,” He set the viola down gently, standing up and walking past her. He made his way down the aisle, then back stage where Levi sat, waiting with brushes and concealer.

                “Please sit,” He motioned at the chair that was in front of him. Eren nodded and sighed, complying with the demand and leaning back in the chair. Levi picked up a makeup brush, dabbing a little bit of foundation on it. Nobody said a word as they passed by and saw Levi close to Eren, covering the black eye he’d caused himself.

                “Why are you doing this?” Eren finally decided to ask, wincing a little as Levi lightly brushed over the tender area.

                “Because I hate knowing the one I did that,” He muttered as he went to put more on to the brush, evening the makeup out. It needed to look natural, not overdone.

                Eren went quiet at that statement, looking a little less annoyed now. He could understand where Levi was coming from, he guessed, after all Eren couldn’t deny feeling bad for hurting Levi himself. At least his friend had the heart to help cover up the evidence of the fight.

                “How come you didn’t cover yours then?” Eren asked quietly, tapping his foot to the beat of the music coming from Levi’s headphones.

                “I don’t need to. It wouldn’t be the first time people have seen me beaten up,” He laughed a little, finishing up smoothing over the concealer. “You’re done.”

                “…Thanks,” Eren nodded quietly, glancing down.

                Levi used to get into a lot of fights until his leg was broken, then he just completely stopped. There were times when Eren would get word during their eighth grade year of Levi being suspended because of getting into a brawl with a few other students that gave him shit. The worst night for Eren was during September in freshman year when Levi came to his door, a sprained wrist and broken nose. He’d been casual about it too, explaining that since Hanji was staying with Petra that night he didn’t want to worry them and instead came over to ask Grisha if he could get patched up.

                It was that night where Eren and Levi sat on the couch together, watching Insidious and not speaking much. Eren had woken his father up to ask for help, and Carla worried over Levi saying that his parents would be extremely upset over the injuries. The raven-haired boy calmly explained they wouldn’t be back for another month, so it shouldn’t be as bad when they get home. Eren kept sending worried glances to his friend, who was slowly beginning to drift asleep and leaning on his shoulder. The brunet boy turned his head a little to give a small kiss on Levi’s forehead, a symbol for being there for him. It was completely platonic.

                So Eren wasn’t very surprised, sitting there in the makeup chair, when Levi stood up and placed a gentle kiss on Eren’s forehead, just the way he had back in freshman year. He kept his head down when he heard Levi walk off and out the theater, going to take a smoke break and probably going to grab a few snacks.

                Armin saw the whole ordeal, and when he heard Levi shut the door, the blond went over to sit in front of his childhood friend. Eren looked back up to see Armin, holding a few gels in his hands and hunched over a bit.

                “I don’t know,” Eren sighed, knowing what Armin was going to ask.

                “Maybe you’re just scared,” He shrugged, leaning back a little. “Of intimacy? I don’t exactly know, but all your other relationships ended after a short amount of time because you rushed in them. Maybe you just don’t want to do the same with Levi.”

                “Quit deducing situations like this,” He jokingly said, lightly punching Armin’s arm. “You could be right, but I think we’ve just been stressed and so we both…exploded.”

                “The show was over, any stresses you two would have had wouldn’t make sense,” Armin stood up, ready to head back to the catwalk.

                “There’s school!”

                “Or, there’s suppressed emotions,” Armin called, climbing back upwards.

                Levi leaned against the wall, cigarette in mouth, and slowly sliding down the wall. He felt a pang of déjà vu and chuckled at the thought, breathing in to take a drag. Any moment now Eren would probably follow out here, they’d have a heart to heart, and things would be okay. In the moment, though, _I Am Not A Robot_ began playing on Levi’s playlist and he rolled his eyes at the timing. It’s not unusual for that to happen, though. As he blew out the smoke, Levi heard the back door shutting and footsteps coming towards his area.

                “Do you have one to spare?” Eren inquired, sitting next to his friend.

                “You know where they are,” Levi replied, and Eren reached into Levi’s side pocket to fish the lighter and cigarette out. He slipped one out, lit it, and gave the items back to the man next to him.

                “So…” Eren began awkwardly, returning to the ways they spoke all last week.

                “So? Care to make another bet? Or perhaps figure out ways where we could argue again?” He spoke bitterly, keeping the cancer stick between his teeth.

                “Or, maybe I came out here to apologize,” Eren shrugged. Levi blew the smoke out in the air, sighing.

               “What’s there to apologize about? Some things can’t be helped,” he shrugged. Eren sucked up a breath and sighed.

                “When was the last time you used a nickname on me?”

                Levi stopped at that thought, glancing to his friend and inching away a little. Honestly, that’s something he hasn’t bothered with for a while now. He just figured Eren genuinely was annoyed by them, but then thought of the night at the beach where he said it was weird Levi hadn’t been using them. He’d yet to even use them since Eren asked.

                “Does it matter?” He asked, smothering the cigarette out.

                “You’re not one hundred percent there anymore. I don’t feel like I’m talking to you, you’re not a robot. Where did the Levi who would sit there and call me various things with ‘Jaeger’ in them, sit out in the park for hours with me and play violin, or even just not do anything but lay there? Where’s my best friend, Levi?” Eren looked over with a sad look in his eyes, and Levi refused to even make eye contact.

                “No, look at me!” He yelled, forcing Levi to look over, trying not to hurt him. The shorter of the two glanced at the ground, frowning.

                “Where’s the Levi I used to know?”

                “Which one, Eren? The Levi that got into constant fights and crawled to your door at three in the morning needing medical help, or the one that—“ He cut himself off before he could say anything that would bring a wave of regret with it later. Eren let go, throwing his hands in the air.

                “Well, how about the Levi that would sit with hours, and then watch movies with me? You know, the one that would have a potty mouth and tell shit jokes, not one who sits and feels sorry for himself. You’re nothing like that Levi, you’re strong and can hold your own, and you’re willing to defend anyone who gives any of our little family shit,” Eren ranted holding on to the cigarette he’d took from his mouth earlier to yell.

                “Are you even _listening?!_ ” Eren shouted, standing up. He wouldn’t get physical this time, but Levi just sat there not looking at him.

                “I’m not feeling sorry for myself. I’m just trying to get over the fact I had an actual physical fight with you, and you were the one to start it,” Levi scoffed and stood up, crossing his arms.

                “Well I’m sorry, Levi. I’m sorry for actually hurting you, because I know it wasn’t just physical,” Eren stressed those last three words, and it took his friend by shock.

                “You’re using my name quite a bit today. But you’re right, it was not just physical,” He kept eye contact with Eren, shifting weight from one foot to the other. “Knowing that you of all people hurt me, someone who was always there and was ready to take care of me if Hanji couldn’t, hit a nerve. You managed to strike it, and that’s why I’m being so bitter.”

                “There’s more to it,” Eren was calming down a little, keeping his hands in his pockets. He’d dropped the cigarette a moment ago, letting it go to waste.

                “Maybe there is. I know you know, Eren. I don’t know if you knew before the gossip line incident, or whatever. I don’t know if you even bought my excuse the first time we did the tango with our tongues, but I’m not going to force you into something you aren’t prepared for,” Levi took a breath, and continued, “Because that’s not how a relationship stays healthy. I’m not even sure if you have those feelings, maybe you do, who knows? Give it time, and things will work out.”

                The taller of the two stood still for a moment, before leaning down and hugging Levi tightly, trying not to cry. “Does this mean you forgive me?”

                “I always will,” Levi hugged back, taking in the warmth that seemed to contrast the crisp December air. For what seemed like hours, they stood there, until Eren finally let go and put out his long forgotten cigarette. He motioned that they should head back inside, and probably think about heading home soon so they could all get homework done. When the pair stepped back inside, Levi gave a look at Eren, frowning at the sight of him.

                “Oi, Jaegerbomb, let me fix your makeup again,” Levi tugged at the sweater’s sleeve, and Eren smiled at the use of the nickname. Things would easily turn back to normal, and the evidence of Levi forcing his head to stay still and yelling at him in French to stop squirming supported that statement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> org. i planned for this to be 5k, but my back started screaming at me, so i decided against that. it's a long chap tho, to make up for last week. i hope you guys enjoy!! we've even got brother/sister eren and mikasa bonding time awh. i seriously wanna thank you guys for all the support i've gotten in this fic, but next chapter will bring it to a closing. i'll make a bigger thank you note then, but seriously, you guys have made me cry with the friends i've made through this process and the motivation i've gained. thank you so much.


	13. Northern Downpour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recommend listening to Panic! At the Disco's song Northern Downpour when they're at the beach.

                Finals week proved itself to once again absorb the light out of anyone of the student’s souls, so they decided to sit out in the parking lot after their last exam before winter break. The sun shone down but provided little warmth for them, as many of the students were curled in their lettermen’s or hoodies. Little was spoken, but a sense of peace eased itself upon them all as they all rested against their car hoods. Before long, it was time to say goodbye and head home, where they’d catch up on sleep and meet the next day to head out to the airport to spend time in Colorado, a trip they’d planned for a long while.

                Levi unlocked his car as he shooed Hanji off to go finish packing, and Eren stepped into the passenger side with ease. Levi followed in the driver’s seat shortly after, and the car came to life when he turned the ignition. The brunet turned to give a smile, and held up his wallet.

                “I lost the bet, so I have to do the ridiculous follow-through. Pick a place to eat, and then we’ll head out to see a movie,” He slipped the wallet back in his jacket, leaning back in the seat.

                “We can just head over and grab something to eat at Ninfa’s, nothing too expensive to burn a hole in your minimum-wage pizza delivering money wallet,” Levi replied, turning the radio up.

                The drive was fairly quick, not much was spoken since the two could sit comfortably in the silence. Levi parked the car with ease, stepping out with Eren and sliding his keys on the belt loop of his jeans. They strode into the restaurant, finding that it wasn’t very busy except with a few students who side-eyed the pair as they walked in. Sitting quickly and ordering their drinks, Eren sighed and picked up the menu.

                “I don’t think I’ve ever been that stressed out in all sixteen years of of my life,” He took a sip of the tea that was placed in front of him.

                “Probably because you had to pack for tomorrow, fix more microphones, and then wake up this morning to take your Algebra II exam,” Levi replied, taking a sip of water when he finished.

                “Right, thanks for tutoring me the rest of this week. I’m pretty sure I would have failed since Armin was busy studying for everything else. How did your sociology exam go?” Eren ripped open two packets of sugar, adding them in the tea and stirring it in.

                “It was fine, I should probably thank you for tutoring me,” He shrugged, biting into the lemon that came with the tea. The teen in front of him laughed a little, and Levi could feel himself smile softly.

                “Anytime, Levi.”

                The food was ordered, and hadn’t taken long to come at all. Students continued to glance over at them until Levi shot a glare signaling for them to either get up and leave, or quit getting in their business. He poked around at the enchilada, not feeling extremely hungry but still eating.

                “What do you want for your birthday?” Eren asked nonchalantly, looking out the window.

                “Nothing, Eren. Just like every year,” He replied, taking a bite of rice.

                “Come on! It’s Christmas and your birthday; you shouldn’t just give and not receive. What do you want?”

                “A real life Justin Chancellor.”

                “Something I can afford and actually find, Levi,” Eren laughed at his reply, rolling his eyes.

                “Ugh, fine. I’ll be fine with just a sweater or new jeans,” Levi wasn’t actually sure what he did want for his birthday. Probably just to sit around and do nothing at the house in the mountains, just like he’d planned.

                Eren nodded, accepting the fact Levi was a person that was hard to shop for. He’d just go and get a custom sweater like last year before they left tomorrow, and made a mental note to stop by that place that does custom printing. Before long, with just mindless chatting, a few hours had pass and Eren was paying for their meal. They walked back out to the car, stepping back inside and turning it on to let the warmth come through the air vents.

                “What movie do you wanna see?” Eren asked, blowing into his hands and rubbing them together.

                “Actually, let’s not go see a movie,” Eren gave his friend a puzzled look, and Levi continued. “Let’s just go to the beach. Your first time wasn’t much fun, and it’s still cold out so we can’t swim. We can make a fire and roast s’mores, though, and stay out for a while.”

                “I…that sounds fine,” Eren was a bit shocked, but pleased with the idea. Sure he’d have to pay for the s’mores stuff and a couple of coat hangers to stick the marshmallows on, but that was still fairly cheap. The sun was beginning to set, anyways, so they could probably make it to the beach by seven.

                Levi pulled out from the parking lot, driving down the highway for a few minutes and pulling into a Wal-Mart. They stepped out, walked inside, and instantly a smile crept on Eren’s face.

                “Hey, remember when we’d stage kiss in front of people to freak them out back in freshman year?” He asked, and Levi grabbed one of the small baskets.

                “What are you implying, Jaegerbomb?” He asked, strolling inside with the tall boy following after. A small laugh escaped past his lips, and Eren continued.

                “We should go and do that right now! The store is crowded, and people will freak out,” He took marshmallows from the shelf and threw them in the basket, and Levi frowned.

                “Eren, at least buy the shit before we get kicked out,” He scolded, taking the Hershey’s from the shelf and placing them in as well. They both walked over to go find cheap wire coat-hangers, and settled on a pack of ten. The pair found themselves at the self-checkout, and Levi began scanning the items. He briefly debated getting them a few sodas, and eventually decided on putting a Coke and Dr. Pepper in the basket. Eren paid for the items, and they took the bags and went to find the exit.

                “Can I do it now?” He pleaded.

                “Ugh, fine, but if we get yelled at by parents with children it’s your fault,” Levi took the bags from Eren’s hands and braced himself.

                Eren all too quickly placed his thumbs over Levi’s lips, and held his face while bending down and placing his lips on the thumbs. Levi tapped his foot with impatience as a few bystanders gave noises of disapproval, and glanced to find a man covering his children’s eyes. After about a minute Eren pulled away and laughed, walking out and ignoring the dirty looks they were given.

                When they got back in the car, Levi frowned in Eren’s direction. “I swear, you are the weirdest person sometimes.”

                “Your fault, you let me do that. Did you hear that woman when we were walking out? ‘Oh, I don’t mind that kinda thing, but PDA when children are around!’ It’s like, lady, they’ve already probably seen it on television a million times,” He laughed, turning the radio up.

                “Whatever, let’s just go to the beach.”

                The way there wasn’t much but a lot of traffic lights, and Levi yelling at people and their shitty driving. Occasionally they’d sing along to the songs Eren put on his iPod and plugged into the car, but other than that they didn’t speak much. Nothing really had to be spoken, as they both knew that the night would just be relaxing and eating food that wasn’t remotely healthy.

                Levi pulled his car on the beach, instructing Eren to grab the blanket from the backseat and the other groceries. He went over to his trunk, grabbing lighter fluid and then going to the area that held firewood. After picking up a few pieces, he came back to find Eren laying down the blanket, and Eren looked back over after smoothing it out.

                “Do you just always have lighter fluid?” He asked.

                “You never know,” Levi shrugged, pouring some of the gas on the wood and reaching in his pocket for a box of matches. When he found them, he struck a match and threw it into the pit. The two males sat down, and gave a sigh while leaning back on their arms.

                The sun was properly setting, and Levi poked at the firewood to get the fire a bit higher. Eren held out his hands for some of the warmth the fire had to offer, and when the fire was high enough he began to unravel the coat hangers. Levi stood up to jog back to the car, turning it on and letting the radio play quietly. The first song was Panic! At the Disco’s _Northern Downpour_ , and Levi came back to hear Eren singing along quietly.

_Hey moon, please forget to fall down.  
Hey moon, don’t you go down..._

                Levi opened one of the two bags of marshmallows, and grabbed a hanger Eren had straightened out. He poked the marshmallow on the piece of wire, and handed it to Eren. He then took one for himself, and stuck the cloud-like food on the hanger and held it next to Eren’s.

_Sugarcane in the easy morning.  
Weathervanes my one and lonely._

                Eren rotated the marshmallow around until he saw it was on fire, and brought it close to him, ready to blow it out until he realized it wasn’t on fire anymore, and he turned to see Levi smirking at the fire. He couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up after that, and went to work on putting the burnt piece on to his chocolate and cracker, closing it with the second cracker.

                The pale boy sitting next to him pulled the marshmallow out when it was a light brown, and took a bite from it. He whined at how warm it was, but quickly got over that and swallowed the bit. The second one he’d make would go on the cracker, but it’d been a very long time since he last had a marshmallow. Eren handed his friend another from the back, and Levi stabbed it with the hanger and placed it back in the fire.

                _You are at the top of my lungs.  
                Drawn to the ones who never yawn._

                “This song is really relaxing,” Eren muttered, taking a bite of the treat.

                “Catchy, too,” Levi topped his with a graham cracker and took a bite, savoring the sweetness.

                “It sucks we won’t be able to do this forever,” Eren sighed, looking a little sad. “Eventually we’re all going to move on and get jobs, lose contact, the whole gist.”

                “Don’t say that,” Levi snapped. “For all you know, we could all end up just starting our own company. I don’t see any of us splitting up anytime soon.”

                The brunet glanced at the relaxed man next to him, now laying down and looking at the stars. They were clear tonight, and he was looking comfortable in his too big jacket and just eating a s’more. The fire continued to flicker, giving a soft light that didn’t frame his features much.

                Eren turned away, feeling his face heat a little at the fact he was staring at Levi. He didn’t bother arguing, but just continued, “Maybe. It’s still nice to have these moments as teenagers.”

                “Sixteen and sitting on the beach with your most attractive best friend?” Levi sarcastically asked, holding in a laugh.

                “Oh yes, sure. I’m so flattered to be in the presence of the God of Hotties,” He laughed, finishing off a s’more and poking at the fire to keep it high.

                The silence settled itself back upon the two, as the music played softly and the night grew longer. They didn’t complain, though, it was a comfortable silence that held them well. They went through half of the supplies, and eventually stopped eating, opting for lying next to each other on the blanket.

                “I know I said it would better if we wait,” Eren began, and Levi turned his head, “But can I ask something?”

                “Sure, Eren,” he nodded.

                “How long are you willing to wait?” Eren sat up, and Levi followed.

                He gave a little thought, and brought his knees towards his chest. “Forever, if I have to.”

                Eren smiled at this response, and ran his hand through Levi’s hair. Before long, he’d found himself leaning over and placing chapped lips upon Levi’s softer ones, lightly breathing and closing his eyes. It was a simple kiss, mouth on mouth and nothing more. Eren almost protested when Levi pulled away and turned back to the fire, giving a small sigh. The noise was caught in his throat though, when in the light of the fire he noticed a small smile.

                He rested back down and looked up at the sky, seeing the moon shine down and reflect in the sea water. When the fire began to go out, they started packing the items away and going back to the car, relishing in the heat that they were greeted with.

                “For you, Eren,” Levi quietly said, “I’d wait lifetimes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really want to thank all of you for this amazing experience, i never was much a writer before this fic. you all have been the best through and through, and it’s amazing. i’m extremely touched by all of you and i really hope you look forward to the next theaterverse fic i’ll be writing. thank you hanna, because throughout this process you inspired me to finish and inspired me to write it, you’re an amazing co-creator and i appreaciate it to much.
> 
> special thank you’s to jes, xpyon, sopphs, xryuchan27, charlie-the-spider, hanji, deersatan, freshia and EVERYONE who commented, liked, fav’d, followed, bookmarked, kudos’d, whATEVER you did to this fic!!


	14. Epilogue

College proved to be an experience, to say in the least.

Spending their last two years of high school never leaving theater, and even getting frequent awards for their shows (Erwin made sure everything was perfect, even if there were sometimes flaws.) the cast and crew were teary-eyed when they all revealed university choices. Eren and Levi definitely ended up going to a four year university together in Texas, although they had applied to colleges all around the country, Levi had gotten an amazing scholarship offer that allowed him to pursue a degree in Fashion and Design. Eren was quick to follow, managing to land a scholarship and pursue his dream in sound engineering. Although the original theater group disbanded around the country, Erwin made sure to keep everyone in contact. This included meeting together on holidays, spending Spring Break together, and bi-weekly Skype calls.

The aforementioned boys going to university together got a small two bedroom apartment together ( _"I know we're best friends but, hello, it'll be awkward if I bring someone home and go 'Sorry, my roommate is a few feet away!'"_ ), working jobs to make the rent and spending free time lounging around the apartment. Eren and Levi made for good roommates, having been best friends for so long and knowing their habits, it wasn't hard to get used to being together constantly. They dated different people on and off, but in the end, Eren was the first one to awkwardly hand Levi a hibiscus and ask, "Will you please consider dating me?"

Levi ended up tackling him with the hug that followed, and kissed his face.

Announcing that the two of them were going steady when they met the following break made everyone erupt into applause. Annie took her cash smugly from everyone who had participated in the bets established years prior, counting it when the couple was bombarded with questions. They sneaked drinks from their parents wine cabinets (being one year shy of the legal drinking limit was an _awful_ thing) and celebrated that night, and Erwin proposed something in his drunken stupor.

"Let's start a theater company!" He exclaimed, startling Armin from the boom of his voice. He was already naturally jumpy but alcohol tended to enhance that effect.

"Erwin, hello, zero money," Armin sighed. He went into Mathematics as his major, deciding to go into computer science.

"Rich parents, hey," Levi gestured to him and Hanji. "With the right wording we could have our own theater in a few days."

Three years later, the original students all stood together in front of a small theater they had refurbished. Houston lore claimed it was haunted, but it also claimed the Spaghetti Warehouse is too (Levi hated the food there anyways, so he never went.) but they didn't mind a friendly theater ghost. The ghost had been nice to them while they worked on reestablishing the theater, anyways.

Erwin popped a bottle of champagne as the sun set, and everyone clapped and cheered. They stood proudly as they rushed to take a picture in front of the small building as a group, setting the timer on the camera and smiling. They were so proud of their theater and the success everyone could just feel.

They decided to do _Rent_ as the first musical.

And as the final performance came to a close, they decided that they'd become a touring theater company. Of course they kept their building to always return to when they didn't tour, but everyone on the road together felt right. It felt right to be doing this, and nobody disagreed. They got invited to put on a show at their old high school, and got to meet the new cast and crew who made the older ones nostalgic. They were on their way to living up to the titles they'd set year ago, and Erwin shed an honest to God tear over it.

Eren proposed to Levi during a sunset, and they proceeded to get married the following year on the same date of November 18th. Hanji cried. Jean got so drunk that for his speech he decided to wing, he picked up a loaf of bread and went "I'd like to make a toast!"

They couple danced to Northern Downpour, and as the night closed after that, Levi mused to himself. Things ended up just fine.

He kissed his new husband as they fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been almost two years since i wrote this fic. it holds a very special place in my heart because of what it led to. bits of my own life are dipped in there, but subtly. i figured since i was feeling nostalgic, i should write an epilogue.  
> thank you everyone once again, as this fic is one of the best choices i've made.


End file.
